A Wedding in Wyoming
Deb Kastner
Johnny slid into the spot next to her on the sofa, slipping his arm around her shoulder.
“Relax,” he whispered close to her ear. “I’m doing you a favor.”
Jenn’s mind scrambled for an answer to his riddle, but to save her life she couldn’t put two thoughts together rationally as her family returned to the room.
“Thanks, folks,” Johnny said, addressing them. “It was nice to have a few minutes alone with Jenn to get reacquainted with this lovely lady.”
His arm tightened around her shoulder for just a moment. She didn’t know if the gesture was meant for the family’s benefit or if he was sending her some kind of unspoken message.
Maybe both.
Because she was sure, now, what he was doing.
He was playing her game.
DEB KASTNER
lives and writes in colorful Colorado with the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains for inspiration. She loves writing for the Steeple Hill Love Inspired line, where she can write about her two favorite things—faith and love. Her characters range from upbeat and humorous to (her favorite) dark and brooding heroes. Her plots fall anywhere between, from a playful romp to the deeply emotional.
Two of Deb’s books have been nominated for an RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Award for Best Book of the Year for Steeple Hill.
Deb and her husband share their home with their two youngest daughters. Deb is thrilled about the newest member of the family—her first granddaughter, Isabella. What fun to be a granny!
Deb loves to hear from her readers. You can contact her by e-mail at DEBWRTR@aol.com, or on her MySpace or Facebook pages.
A Wedding in Wyoming
Deb Kastner
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities:
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
—Isaiah 53:5
To my former manager Kristie Parks at Hallmark,
and all the ladies, for making my time working
there so special. I told you I would!
To my editor, Emily Rodmell, for her patience and
direction in bringing me back up to speed in my
career with this book.
And most of all, to my family—my husband, Joe,
my daughter Annie and her husband, Max,
and my daughters Kimberly and Katie. You
have pulled with me through the rough times
and laughed with me through our joy. May God
continue to bless each and every one of you with
His mercy, grace and love.
Much excitement and love to the little new
bobbit in the DePriest/Kastner family, my first
granddaughter, Isabella! And no—I’m not old
enough to be a Granny!
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Questions for Discussion
Chapter One
The roses were perfect, and so was her plan.
This year, Jenn Washington’s annual two-week family reunion would be different. She could see it already, from the way her family was fawning over the recently delivered bouquet.
“Oh, how lovely!” Jenn’s mother exclaimed. “And to be delivered way out here—it’s such a romantic gesture.”
“A dozen red roses,” Granny added, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. “The color of love.”
Precisely, thought Jenn. Thank you very much.
She’d gone to a great deal of trouble picking out the perfect bouquet online—red roses surrounded by a scattering of baby’s breath and lodged in a lovely French vase. It had cost her a pretty penny, not only to purchase, but to have them sent by special courier to the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, at her grandparent’s ranch where she’d grown up.
Now, seeing her family’s surprised gazes, she knew it was worth every cent.
This plan was going to work.
“Sounds fishy to me,” Jenn’s great-aunt, Myra, said, pursing her lips. “There’s a card attached. Let’s read it.”
“Don’t you think you ought to let Jenn read it in private? It’s her gift, after all,” Granddad said in his usual, pleasantly gruff manner.
All eyes were on Jenn. Her heart was pounding. This was the moment she’d waited for, her coup de grace, so to speak. “Oh, no, that’s all right. Go ahead and read it. I have no secrets.”
She had more secrets than she cared to admit, but she wouldn’t reveal a single one.
Not now.
Not ever.
Auntie Myra plucked up the small card and opened it with flair, clearing her throat melodramatically before reading the words.
“‘Love, Me.’”
Clever, even if Jenn had to say so herself. She wanted to laugh aloud, but she kept her expression as innocently neutral as she was able.
“That’s it?” Granny said, turning to face Jenn, arms akimbo. “Sounds like you’ve got a bit of explaining to do, missy.”
Jenn did her best to look both innocent and delighted.
Delighted wasn’t so difficult. This was going to be fun. No one was going to tease her about a lack of a significant other this year. No one was going to hint at the lack of grandchildren at the reunion.
Not this year.
Exactly as she’d planned.
“They’re just flowers,” she said, making a dismissive motion with her hand. “I don’t know why everyone is making such a big deal over it.”
“What? You don’t like flowers now?” teased Granny.
“Oh, I like flowers,” Jenn answered with a laugh.
“So it’s the man you don’t like,” guessed Jenn’s mother.
Jenn laughed again and shook her head. “I didn’t say that.”
“Do you even know who these are from?” queried Auntie Myra, still gazing at Jenn with suspicion and disbelief. Not hard to understand, since Jenn, now twenty-six, had never brought a man home to meet the family.
“Of course I do,” Jenn answered immediately.
Me, she thought with delight.
“And that would be?” Auntie Myra continued.
From the start, she’d known that her family would want to know the name, rank and serial number of any man who’d finally gotten close enough to Jenn to receive her attention.
“J-uh-Johnny,” she stammered, and then let out a relieved breath when everyone smiled at her.
All at once, questions flew at her from every direction.
Where did she meet him?
How long had they been dating?
Why hadn’t she mentioned him before?
As quick as they started, the barrage of questions were abruptly cut off by a loud pounding coming from behind them.
“What’s all the noise in here?” came an unexpected voice from the kitchen doorway, where a sandy-haired man was lounging his bony shoulder against the doorway, his cowboy hat low over his eyes.
“Scotty!” Jenn was the first to see him, and launched herself into his arms, nearly knocking him off his feet. “I didn’t think you were coming!”
“Young man,” Granny said, from just over Jenn’s shoulder, “didn’t your mama teach you any manners? A gentleman removes his hat when he enters a house.”
Scotty colored and swept off the dusty blue cavalry hat, his trademark among the bull riders from back in his teen years, tapping it mildly against his thigh. He cleared his throat loudly. “Sorry, Granny.”
Granny made an indistinct snorting sound, then laughed, crowding Jenn to give her grandson a hug. It wasn’t a moment more before everyone was crowding in for a big family bear hug.
Scotty was a welcome diversion from Jenn’s flowers, a fact she noticed and was happy to accommodate. She’d rather not answer the questions her family plagued her with about her mysterious Johnny, so it was just as well.
And she was as thrilled as the rest of her family to see her baby brother. It had been a year, and he had sprouted like a beanpole.
It was only then, stepping back to allow her family more access to her brother, that she noticed Scotty was not alone. Lingering in the background behind her brother, his hip leaned negligently against the kitchen counter, his black Diamond Jim Stetson curled in his hand, was another man, a stranger to Jenn.
He was tall, six two maybe, with broad shoulders and strong arms, but with the long, wiry frame of a man who spent most of his time in the saddle. His deep, curly black hair was a little long, as if he’d missed his last haircut, and was ruffled from the removal from his hat. He was purposefully hanging back, but his posture was relaxed and his face friendly and open. Jenn guessed the cowboy could be called handsome, in a rugged sort of way.
If one were attracted to that sort of man, which Jenn definitely wasn’t.
He’d obviously come in with her brother, though he looked to be several years older than Scotty—close to Jenn’s own age, she guessed.
He didn’t look uncomfortable at being overlooked. His dark eyes, a color which floated somewhere between blue and black, were brimming with amusement and understanding. His friend was home with family, who clearly adored him. The stranger appeared to be content to wait his turn.
When the man realized Jenn was staring at him, he smiled and winked at her. Flushing, she turned her gaze away and elbowed Auntie Myra, gesturing toward the unannounced guest, knowing her aunt would jump at the chance to welcome someone new to their gathering, especially a handsome young man.
“Why, Scotty,” Auntie Myra exclaimed, “you haven’t introduced your guest.”
Scotty laughed from his belly and gestured the stranger forward, slapping him on the back affectionately. “Sorry. I was so caught up in seeing you all I almost forgot about him.”
“Well, thanks,” the stranger replied, punching Scotty’s arm hard enough to send the boy off balance and sprawling into other family members.
“I can introduce myself,” the man said, his voice deep, yet surprisingly soft-spoken, given his size. He had the slightest bit of a drawl, though not Texan nor Southern. Jenn couldn’t place it.
She was pondering this when his next words blasted over her with the force of a hurricane.
“Glad to meet ya’ll. My name’s Johnny. Johnny Barnes.”
Dead silence.
Even loquacious Auntie Myra was left speechless in the wake of Johnny’s declaration.
Jenn’s breath left her body as if she’d been punched in the gut. And it didn’t return. She wasn’t even sure her heart was beating.
Johnny?
Scotty brings a wrangler from the depths of Wyoming and his name is Johnny?
It figured. It just figured. Now she was going to have to talk her way out of this one, too, because she knew perfectly well her dear family was never going to leave it alone.
So, what if there were a million Johnnys in the world? They were still going to ask if he was the one, Jenn just knew it. And the expressions on her family’s faces only served to confirm her fears. Especially Auntie Myra, who looked as if she was preparing to pounce on the poor cowboy.
Scotty looked around, obviously confused by his family’s odd behavior. Everyone else’s gaze was on Jenn. No one was welcoming Scotty’s new friend to the household, as her younger brother had clearly expected.
“Johnny wrangles with me. I thought it would be okay to bring him along,” Scotty said, hesitantly.
Granddad was the first to recover, always the most sensible of the lot of them. “Of course he’s welcome. Johnny, glad to meet you.” Granddad thrust out his hand for a hearty handshake.
Auntie Myra stepped forward and hugged the man. Johnny returned the unexpected embrace awkwardly, and Jenn smiled despite herself. Obviously, Johnny was not prepared for Scotty’s affectionate family, as he accepted hug after hug from the women and friendly, enthusiastic handshakes from the men.
Only Jenn remained where she was, caught in a trap of her own making. She couldn’t approach the man and greet him. Stranger or friend, her family would be watching her with hawkeyes.
It took a moment, but her brain slowly started functioning again.
What did she have to worry about? This was Scotty’s friend, fresh from sprawling Wyoming ranch land. Surely her family would realize he couldn’t possibly be her Johnny.
There would only be a moment of confusion before things were set to right and she could go back to enjoying the reunion.
“So,” asked Auntie Myra in a casual tone that belied her open, wide-eyed curiosity, “Are you the Johnny we’ve heard about?”
Jenn cringed inwardly, though she reminded herself again and again there was no real danger in him answering that question. The man wouldn’t have the slightest notion of what Auntie Myra was really asking, and would, naturally, answer to the negative.
End of subject.
Johnny definitely looked stunned as he stared from face to face. But after a moment he quirked his lips, shrugged, and announced, “Guess I’ve been found out. Yes, ma’am. That would be me.”
Jenn felt her legs buckle underneath her and moved quickly to the sofa and sat before she fell down. She had no idea why the unknown cowboy had answered the way he had, but now she—and he, for that matter—had, as the old saying went, a lot of ’splaining to do.
She was suddenly furious at the gall of the cowboy. Never mind that this whole set up was her doing in the first place.
How could he say he was the Johnny? There was no Johnny! What kind of a game was he playing?
Everyone rushed at him at once, deluging him with questions.
When had he met Jenn?
How long had they been together?
And how long had it been since they’d seen each other last, what with him wrangling and all?
Johnny sent a panicked glance at Scotty, but his friend just grinned and shrugged. Obviously the boy would be no help in sorting this out.
Who was Jenn? What were these nutty people talking about?
Suddenly he spied the young woman seated on the sofa, the pretty woman who’d been the first to notice him when he and Scotty first arrived. She was also, he’d noted, the only one of her spirited family who’d held back in the initial greeting, not offering him a welcome, much less a hug. She must be the sister Scotty had mentioned.
She now looked a little woozy. Her eyes looked glazed over and she was gripping the arm of the sofa like a lifeline. He guessed her to be around his age—twenty-five or twenty-six at most. She had gorgeous, short golden curls, a pretty, perky little nose, intelligent blue eyes, and a face as red as a Macintosh apple.
Obviously, she was the woman they were all talking about. What he didn’t know was what they were talking about.
He’d thought Scotty’s family had recognized him from a magazine cover or a television news story, but apparently that was not the case. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or alarmed.
He had to figure out what was going on, and fast. He thrust his fingers through his hair and tapped his Stetson against his thigh. If these people didn’t know who he really was—and they clearly didn’t—he didn’t want to tip off his own hand.
He hesitated in revealing his true identity—just yet. Not to this happy, real family who apparently didn’t keep up with national news all that well.
But he still didn’t know who they thought he was. He had to figure out some way to gain the information he needed without giving himself away.
And then he realized the answer to his problem, that other way, was staring straight back at him, half glaring, half beckoning, as if she expected him to say something that would clear up everything. To say that he was in no way connected with her, apparently.
And he supposed he would…in time. At the moment, he just wanted to hear what was invariably going to be a highly amusing story, especially if it came from the mouth of the lovely woman on the sofa.
He grinned widely as he looked away from Jenn and tipped his head toward her aunt, his fingers tugging at the imaginary brim of his hat. Cowboy style, he thought, his smile growing even bigger. “I’m mighty pleased to meet you all,” he said, giving a show at his most charming drawl. “But I wonder if I might have a moment alone with—uh,—Jenn?”
He couldn’t remember everyone’s names in the enthusiastic jumble of introductions, but Jenn’s name was sealed firmly in his mind.
“Why, of course,” answered a fine-looking middle-age woman who could only be Scotty and Jenn’s mother. She had the same golden curls—albeit with a bit of white—and the same vibrant blue eyes as her daughter. “You two probably haven’t seen each other in ages.”
Which was the understatement of the century, Johnny thought, his lips twitching with amusement.
“We’ll all retire to the kitchen to get sandwiches prepared for everyone,” Jenn’s grandmother suggested, “and give you two a little privacy.”
Jenn was on her feet in an instant. “I don’t think—” She stopped, looking around with wide eyes. A deer caught in the headlights, Johnny thought. She looked as if she were about to be run over by a blaring semi truck.
Johnny still had absolutely no idea what was going on, but it had to be one good story. He probably would have laughed out loud if the poor young woman by the sofa didn’t look so pitifully miserable.
He hadn’t felt like laughing—really laughing—in a very long time, and he savored the feeling. He’d let his work get the best of him, stealing away his teenage years, not to mention the first half of his twenties. Taking this summer off was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Especially now, when he’d somehow landed in the midst of a happy, if chaotic, family, and a mystery he was eager to solve.
“Now, Jenn,” said Scotty’s and Jenn’s grandmother, “be gracious to your guest. Fresh-ground coffee is on its way.” She turned to Johnny. “Please, young man, be seated.” Her forceful sideways glance at Jenn clearly indicated she should do the same.
Jenn nodded mutely at her family as all but her brother departed for the kitchen.
Scotty didn’t budge. He was grinning at Johnny like he’d just roped a steer on the first try. Scotty didn’t speak, but he chuckled and lifted one eyebrow.
Johnny just shrugged.
“Scotty,” Jenn said, her voice just a little bit shaky and very much pleading, “please.”
Scotty laughed rowdily but moved to join the others in the kitchen.
Jenn cringed inwardly. Count on her baby brother to give her trouble about this. About Johnny. As if she weren’t in enough trouble already.
Jenn regained her seat on the sofa with a deep sigh, burying her face in her hands. Johnny sat down on an armchair opposite her, leaned his elbows on his legs, and waited.
Jenn said nothing for the longest time. This was absolutely, totally surreal. She couldn’t get her mind around what was happening, never mind what to do with the situation.
She was alone in a room with a man she’d just now met—a man whom her family assumed was some sort of significant other in her life, a relationship obviously serious enough to warrant flowers being delivered to her out in the middle of nowhere.
Quickly, she composed her thoughts. There had to be a simple way out of this mess, even if she couldn’t see it now. She just had to think rationally. Starting with the obvious.
“Why did you call yourself the Johnny?” she asked, her voice more demanding than she’d intended, but she was under a lot of strain.
“We’ll get to that,” the man replied in his soft, rich baritone. “But first, I think you need to tell me who these people think I am.”
Jenn nodded. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. You must be stupefied by their reaction to your presence.”
He laughed. “Yeah, well, stupefied isn’t the exact word I’d use, but let’s just say I am more than just curious.”
She couldn’t help but laugh with him. It was funny, or at least it would be in twenty years when she looked back on this moment.
Right this second though, she felt dreadfully serious. Her stomach hurt.
“It’s my family. I know you’ve only just met them, but I’m sure you’ve noticed how overwhelming they can be.”
“You’re lucky to have a family,” Johnny said, his expression suddenly serious. Then he smiled and shrugged. “I’m an orphan, myself.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, and meant it with all her heart. Her job as a social worker in downtown Denver brought her in contact with many orphaned and abandoned children. She knew firsthand the pain and suffering they experienced, being all alone in the world. She wondered what Johnny’s story was, what he had been through. But now was not the time to ask.
“I love my family, I really do,” she stated emphatically. “I look forward to these yearly gatherings. It’s the only time I see most of my family, even my parents. I work in Denver, and it sometimes feels like Wyoming—where the rest of my family lives—might as well be Mars.”
“You’re busy with your work?” Johnny asked.
He had guessed accurately. “Yes. I’m a social worker. I work long, hard hours—sometimes seven days a week. And I’m on call many of the nights.”
Johnny nodded. “I know what you mean.”
She supposed he did, in a backward, cowboy sort of way. Wrangling cattle was pretty much a 24/7 job.
“There’s just this one thing, you see,” she explained. Oddly, she was beginning to feel comfortable in this cowboy’s presence. He was a large, intimidating man, to be sure, but he had kind eyes and a playful quirk to his lips that set her at ease.
Still, she had to be careful where she trod, especially since Johnny seemed so sincere.
It was best simply to get down to business and have it done with. They needed to work out a feasible solution to the problem she’d created, not become friends. Not that she wanted that, anyway.
“You may have noticed there are no children about.”
He cocked his head a little to one side, and then nodded. “I have to admit I was a little surprised—a family reunion with no kids.”
“My Auntie Myra—she’s my great-aunt, really—lost her husband in Vietnam. They had no children, and her heart was so broken she never remarried.”
“I see,” he said, though the look on his face told her he had no idea whatsoever where this conversation was leading.
“Basically, Johnny, the lot has fallen on me. Everyone wants squealing little children running rampant through this farm, and they want them now.”
“Well, sure they do,” he said with a soft drawl. “But you’re all of what, twenty-four years old? Twenty-five, maybe? And Scotty’s only just finished his high school diploma.”
“I’m twenty-six,” Jenn clarified wryly. “And as far as my family is concerned, it’s time for me to settle down and start popping out some sweet little babies for them to spoil rotten.”
She paused thoughtfully. “It’s not all that surprising, really, given everyone’s circumstances. I don’t blame them. It’s just not where I’m at in my life right now.”
Ever, she thought grimly, but she didn’t say the word aloud.
Johnny pursed his lips. “So, then, let’s see. The real problem is that Mr. Right hasn’t come along yet to sweep you off your feet?”
Jenn chuckled. “I don’t even know if there is such a man. For me, at least.”
“You’re pulling my leg,” he replied, with a shake of his head. “You can’t tell me you don’t have men knocking down your door every day of the week. A beautiful, intelligent woman like you?”
He was teasing, but that didn’t stop Jenn from flushing from her toes to the tips of her ears. “I really don’t have time for dating.”
“Well, you ought to make some.” His midnight-blue eyes were alight with amusement.
Jenn waved him off with her hand. “Now you’re starting to sound like my family.”
He laughed and stretched like a lazy cat. He was so large he dwarfed the armchair he was seated on.
“I still don’t understand where I come in,” he said after a minute.
“You don’t,” she stated emphatically. “This is all one big misunderstanding.”
“I got that much. So who is—and more to the point where is—this fellow Johnny your family was clearly expecting?”
She groaned and put a palm to her forehead. “That’s the thing,” she muttered. “There is no Johnny.”
There was another long moment’s pause as Johnny considered her words, and then he shook his head. “I don’t get it.”
She chuckled. “No, you wouldn’t. I did something stupid, at least in hindsight it appears that way. My family always teases me mercilessly about getting married and starting a family, so I made up a man.”
“You did what?” He fingered the dusty Stetson in his hand.
“It’s not as complicated as it sounds—at least it wasn’t, until you showed up and announced your name was Johnny.”
“My name is Johnny,” he said with a low chuckle.
“Unfortunately,” she muttered, and then clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
He laughed. “I didn’t think you did.”
She liked his laugh. He threw back his head and chortled wholeheartedly, his blue eyes glittering.
Okay, so she was harboring a little resentment toward the man, even if she knew perfectly well it wasn’t really his fault she was in this predicament. Fortunately, he couldn’t tell how she was really feeling, this convulsion of emotions coursing through her heart and head.
At least Johnny appeared to be taking her revelations with courtesy and maybe a touch of humor, which, Jenn thought, said a lot about the kind of man he was. He didn’t seem mad at her.
Yet.
He hadn’t heard the whole story. Johnny might appear to be a nice enough man for an unpolished cowboy, but he still had no idea how big a quandary he’d innocently walked into.
There were limits to any man’s patience, and Johnny’s, she had to think, must already be stretched close to its limit.
Jenn was about to continue her convoluted explanation when her mother interrupted. Clearing her throat loudly to announce her presence, Jenn’s mother entered with two steaming mugs of freshly ground and brewed coffee. Jenn inhaled the lovely aroma of hazelnut and crème, her favorite.
Mom didn’t say a word. She set the mugs on the table and, with an encouraging smile to each of them, backtracked into the kitchen, closing the French doors that separated the rooms firmly behind her.
“I sent myself flowers,” Jenn announced as soon as she and Johnny were once more alone.
“That’s it?” Johnny asked, cocking an eyebrow. “That’s all you did? Signed the card Johnny and let everyone think what they may?”
“Not exactly,” she said, chuckling. “I signed the card, Love, Me.”
He laughed heartily, and Jenn was certain her family could hear that from the next room.
“Clever,” he said. “Ingenious. This story gets better and better. So what happened when the flowers arrived?” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, as if anxious to hear the rest.
In that, he would be disappointed. “There isn’t much to tell. The family made a big deal of it, of course, and started nagging me for a name. I’d only just blurted out Johnny when you and Scotty showed up.”
“Hmm,” he said, stroking his strong jaw between his thumb and forefinger. His face was unshaven, as he’d been out on the range for a good week at least, Jenn thought.
She wondered why she didn’t find the scruff unattractive. Stubble had never appealed to her before.
He sat back in the chair. “My showing up puts you in a bit of a pickle, doesn’t it?”
“Let’s just say it was a major jolt to my system, and leave it at that. I was really freaked out there for a while. But now that I’ve had a chance to settle down and think about it—and to talk to you—it’s really not so bad. We—I, that is,—just need to come clean with the facts. I simply have to tell my family there’s been a misunderstanding and you are not my Johnny.”
“And yet, here we’ve been sitting alone all this time like we’re catching up.”
The man did have a point. Jenn felt herself blushing again. She hated that. “I can’t think of how to explain that part—yet.”
Johnny grinned. “I can.”
But before he could say more, the family emerged from the kitchen, flooding back into the living room with expectant gazes on their faces. Apparently, they’d collectively decided they’d waited long enough to get the scoop on Jenn and her new beau.
Even Scotty looked curious. How could he think for one second that…
Her thoughts were cut off when Johnny stood, and with the athletic agility of a rugged cowboy, slid into the spot next to her on the sofa and slipped his arm around her shoulders, effectively sealing the deal.
She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. The temperature in the room seemed to suddenly have spiked to well over two hundred degrees.
What was the crazy cowboy up to now? Didn’t he realize he was making things worse by the second?
And how was she going to explain herself to her family, when Johnny was acting so cozy with her?
There was only one answer to that question.
She couldn’t.
Chapter Two
“Relax,” he whispered close to her ear, his soft drawl sending a shiver down her spine for any number of reasons. “I’m doing you a favor.”
What? Her mind scrambled for an answer to his riddle, but she couldn’t put two thoughts together rationally to save her life.
Steady, she coaxed herself mentally. Relax. Think. Try to locate your brain.
“Thanks, folks,” Johnny said, addressing her hovering family. “It was nice to have a few minutes alone with Jenn to get—er—reacquainted with this lovely lady.”
His arm tightened around her shoulder for just a moment. She didn’t know if the gesture was meant for the family’s benefit or if he was sending her some kind of unspoken message.
Maybe both.
Because she was sure, now, what he was doing.
He was playing her game.
The game she had initiated and no longer wanted any part of.
She tried to speak, to lay it all on the line for her family, but Johnny’s statement sent the whole clan abuzz, and Jenn couldn’t get a word in edgewise.
“A cowboy,” Granny said, looking from Johnny to Jenn, and then back at Johnny again, assessing them before giving Jenn a nod of approval. “Who would have thought?”
Who would have thought, indeed? Jenn wouldn’t hog-tie herself to a ranch hand in a million years. Rough-and-tumble cowboys just weren’t her type, and her family, of all people, should have known that.
“The flowers are lovely,” her mother offered.
Especially picked for me, by me, Jenn thought.
“And how romantic for you two to meet up this way,” Auntie Myra added. “Johnny must have done some real fast talking to surprise you like this, Jenn. All in all, I think this whole reunion is going to be one surprise after another.”
More than Auntie Myra could possibly know.
Granddad settled into the chocolate-colored armchair Johnny had vacated. “So, son, tell us more about you. Jenn was going to fill us in when you arrived. Where do you hail from?”
Jenn noticed Johnny’s hesitation, and the way his grip on his cowboy hat tightened. He rolled the rim as he spoke. “I’m originally from Nebraska, sir, but I’ve lived all over the country at one time or another.”
That explained the slight but unidentifiable drawl, at any rate—the accent that made her heart do that tiny, annoying flutter she was trying to ignore. Johnny spoke firmly and quietly, but the tension was definitely still present.
Jenn wondered if anyone else had noticed the way he’d suddenly stiffened. But no, of course not—they were all flying off in this wild fantasy she had created for their benefit. She wanted to crawl underneath the nearest chair and hide, but Johnny’s arm was still firmly about her shoulders.
“Your family is in Nebraska?” Jenn’s father asked, standing directly behind the armchair her grandfather occupied and leaning into it, resting his elbow on the cushion.
“No family,” Johnny said briskly. He wanted to fold his arms across his chest in a protective move, but he didn’t want to let go of Jenn to do it, so he remained where he was. He didn’t want to talk about this subject—not to this nice, close, happy family. But he knew he had to say something. “I’m an orphan, sir.”
Best to stay as close to the truth as possible, he decided. As a Christian, it went against every moral grain in his body to submit even the smallest white lie to anyone, but he’d suddenly discovered a chivalrous streak he hadn’t even known he possessed until this moment.
At first, this charade had been about himself, about protecting his own identity and getting to spend a couple weeks finding out how a real family functioned.
Now it was about Jenn.
When the family had abruptly broken off his conversation with Jenn, he’d moved to her side without a moment’s thought or hesitation, going straight on gut instinct. An instinct to protect the beautiful woman now lodged firmly, if not comfortably, in his arms.
The fact that he was protecting her from herselfcrossed his mind, but it didn’t matter now. He’d made his decision and he was going to stick with it.
“Well, you’ve got family here, son,” Jenn’s grandfather said firmly. “Any friend of Jenn and Scotty’s is always welcome here.”
To his surprise, Johnny found himself fighting a burning sensation in the back of his eyes. He’d thought he’d put aside all his hurt and anguish at having grown up without a family, but Jenn’s grandfather’s words pierced his heart.
Johnny wasn’t a crying man. He hadn’t shed a single tear since he was five years old and his bully of a foster brother had beaten him up for being such a sissy.
He grit his teeth against the onslaught of emotion, determined to overcome it by sheer strength of will but entirely unable to speak.
“That’s right, honey,” Auntie Myra said, ruffling Johnny’s hair as she would a young boy. “Now that you’re dating our precious Jenn, you’ve got to consider us all your family. And I expect you to call me Auntie Myra. I know the rest of my family feels the same—Granny, Granddad.”
Johnny opened his mouth to speak but only a choking sound emerged.
Auntie Myra held up her hands, thinking he was trying to beg off. If only she knew.
“No, no, we won’t hear of anything else, will we, folks?”
Her family clamored over each other to be the first to agree.
Jenn’s mother placed a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “I know you must be feeling a little overwhelmed right now, Johnny. Don’t let them frighten you away. I know you and Jenn are just dating. You probably haven’t made any long-term plans.”
That was an understatement. He and Jenn hadn’t gotten so far as to what they were going to do in the next minute, much less the next two weeks. Johnny swallowed hard and nodded.
“Still and all, things being the way they are, Jenn’s father and I would be honored if you would treat us like family, even if it’s just for these two weeks.”
Johnny looked at Jenn. Her bright blue eyes were shimmering with unshed tears, from joy or chagrin he couldn’t say.
For himself, Johnny thought this might be the happiest moment of his life, and it was certainly going to be the best two weeks he’d ever spent.
He was still feeling guilty about deceiving these kind people, but it was really only a sin of omission, wasn’t it?
Anyway, he was already committed. In for a penny, and all that. For the next two weeks, he decided, he was going to toss away guilt and savor every moment.
Because for the first time in his entire life, he had a family.
“We need to make some ground rules,” Jenn said firmly, as she showed Johnny to his room. “Since you’ve decided to play this little game.” Her tone was both defensive and accusatory.
“You started it,” he reminded her, then clamped his jaw shut as he realized he sounded like a five-year-old bantering with a sibling.
Jenn Washington was most definitely not his sibling. His grip on his saddle pack increased with every step. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“It’s true. I did,” she admitted quietly after a moment’s pause.
At least she had the maturity to own up to her part in this charade. Johnny respected her for that.
“What I don’t understand is why you decided not to call my bluff,” she said, gesturing him into a small corner bedroom.
Johnny quickly scanned the room. There was a neatly made twin bed with a colorful quilt folded at the bottom, a writing table which faced one of two windows, and a clothes rack in lieu of a closet.
There wasn’t space for a closet, or anything else, for that matter. Johnny had to duck his head to get through the doorway.
He set his saddle pack against the foot of the bed and then sat down, feeling less awkward sitting than standing. He looked at Jenn expectantly, wondering if she was going to keep on about the subject of why he hadn’t called her bluff, or if she would move on to something else.
Thankfully, it was something else. “I apologize for the cramped quarters. This is the only spare guest room we have left.”
“Not a problem,” Johnny assured her.
“You’re positive you won’t be claustrophobic? You’re used to sleeping under the stars, I’m sure.”
He didn’t think now was the time to mention he’d shared a dorm room smaller than this in college. “Like I said, I’ll be fine. If I get the hankering, I have my bedroll. I can always go out by the barn and sleep under the stars.” He winked at her.
“Yes, I suppose you can,” she agreed with a smile. “And then come back inside for a hot shower in the morning. What a novel idea for a cowboy.”
Actually, he was looking forward to sleeping inside again, on a real bed, and most especially taking a hot shower every morning, but he didn’t tell her that. He just grinned.
“Now, back to my original statement. Ground rules,” she reminded him. “And I still want to know why you decided to masquerade as my Johnny.”
“That’s a simple answer,” he replied, opening the frilly blue gingham curtains to let in what was left of the sunshine. Since the window above the authentic pinewood writing desk faced east, he knew he’d see a lot more of the sun come morning.
He grinned. “I’ve never had a family. You’ve just given me two weeks with one. It’ll be a new experience for me.”
He was surprised when she didn’t smile back, but rather frowned at him. “Are you serious? You want to be a part of my family? You’ve spent more than five minutes in their combined company. Are you nuts?”
“You don’t know what you have.”
Jenn went silent. He was serious. And she felt sorry for him. She might not see them often, but she had family, and as curious as they were, she knew she could count on them, no matter what.
Johnny, on the other hand, had no one.
He returned to his saddle bag and flipped open the top, taking out a well-used leather-bound bible and placing it on the writing desk, his hand lingering over the cover.
“You’re a Christian?” she asked, more alarmed than surprised.
He looked her straight in the eye. “Yes, ma’am. Does that bother you?”
Jenn looked away from his soul-piercing gaze. “No, not at all,” she said with forced enthusiasm.
“You’re in good company here. My family is all outspoken believers.”
She expected he would naturally include her in the statement, but he continued to watch her, assessing her with eyes that gleamed almost black in the twilight of the bedroom.
To her relief, he didn’t press the point. Instead, he shifted back to their original quandary.
“You said something about ground rules.” That low, soft-spoken voice went straight to her heart. “What did you have in mind?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” she began, and realized to her own surprise that she meant it. “But I think we’d both be more comfortable—and believable—if we simply devise and agree to abide by a game plan. That way there won’t be as many opportunities for mistakes, faux pas, if you will.”
“Okay,” he said straightaway, sitting on the corner of the bed and gesturing her to the pinewood chair. “Should I shut the door, do you think, so others can’t hear our conversation?”
“No!” Jenn felt a blush rising to her cheeks—again. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. My family is old-fashioned. I’m old-fashioned, at least in that respect. This is exactly the sort of behavior I don’t want—”
She stopped speaking dead in the middle of her statement when she looked at Johnny, who’d crossed his arms and was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
She suddenly realized he was teasing her, which only made her blush all the more.
“Seriously, now,” he said. “What is it you think we should—or should not—do to make our grand charade a success?”
Jenn had no idea where to start. Her mind was jumbled with thoughts, and not all were about the pretense they were initiating. He was looking at her with an intensity and amusement that sent her mind and heart completely off-kilter.
Johnny merely cocked an eyebrow, waiting.
“Well, I don’t think we should spend too much time together alone,” she started, and then realized that was exactly what they were doing now. “Of course, my family will expect us to hang out with each other, but let’s try to do that when everyone’s around.”
He nodded, his lips quirking in that adorable smile of his.
“My family doesn’t really believe in private time—individual or otherwise—especially during these reunions. They usually have every spare second filled with some amusement or another.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“It’ll drive you crazy by the end of your first week here.”
He laughed. “You like your private time, huh?”
“Oh, yes,” she agreed instantly. “I have to have some downtime just to recover from all the noise my family makes. Trust me, you will, too.”
“Naw.” He shook his head. “Other than devotional time, which I usually take early in the morning before anyone else rises, I think I’m good.”
“We’ll see.” This man was far too agreeable, which would normally set her nerves on edge, but for some reason, she liked him all the more for his positive attitude.
“What else?” he asked, leaning back on his hands.
She wondered if his curly black hair was always as ruffled as it was now, or whether it was the result of wearing his cowboy hat all day.
“I would prefer that you not try to delve into my personal business—my private life. I’ll respect yours, as well. Naturally, I’ll fill you in on the basics, the things you need to know to be my Johnny. But at the end of the day, I’m a very private person, and I’d like it to stay that way.”
“Of course,” he agreed immediately with a firm nod of his head. “Likewise, darlin’.”
The endearment left a mark on her heart. She wanted to deny him the right to use a pet name with her, but realized it could work to her advantage, so she said nothing.
She considered what a simple cowboy like Johnny could possibly consider a private life. He spent all his time out on the range with cows, after all.
Then again, as a social worker, she’d learned the hard way that everyone had secrets. She knew she personally carried more than the usual load. But still…
“Anything else I should know?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“No P.D.A.,” she blurted without thinking, and then groaned inwardly. This was going to be much, much more complicated than she’d ever imagined.
That quirk of his lips again. She was positive that trait was going to drive her crazy within the space of a week, for better or worse.
“Public Displays of Affection,” she clarified.
Johnny chuckled softly, a deep, low rumble in his throat. “I know what P.D.A. stands for. I was just wondering what your family will think if there aren’t any. We’re supposed to be in love, remember?”
She choked and sputtered for air.
He just grinned. He was baiting her—again, as if he enjoyed making her blush.
Maybe he did.
“You have a point,” she conceded slowly. “I suppose there must be something. Er—uh—holding hands once in a while would be appropriate, and I g-guess you can put your arm around me from time to time.” She hated how she stammered through that sentence, but she couldn’t help herself.
“I feel honored,” Johnny said, using his fingers to tip the rim of the hat he wasn’t wearing. She couldn’t tell whether or not he was teasing her again. His voice was serious, but his midnight-blue eyes were dancing with merriment.
She frowned. “I’m serious. And one more thing. Absolutely, positively no kissing. Not even so much as a peck on the cheek. Are we clear on that point?”
His gaze widened, and for the longest moment she thought he might object, but in the end he just nodded. “Done,” he said firmly.
She let out a sigh. He had no idea of the relief flooding through her. Because, even though she didn’t know this man at all, she believed he meant what he said.
She shouldn’t. She knew better.
She’d keep her guard up, no matter what. At least he’d agreed to the ground rules in theory, and her gut instinct was to take him at his word. Time would tell.
At least he hadn’t asked for details, or questioned her rules. Most women, she supposed, probably threw themselves at the handsome cowboy. He probably wasn’t used to a woman being as reserved as she was.
She wasn’t being mysterious, only cautious.
Johnny couldn’t possibly understand the truth. No one could.
“Now for the backstory,” Jenn said, happy to change the subject. “You know I’m a social worker in Denver, and I know you’re a wrangler in Wyoming. I have absolutely no idea how we could possibly—and plausibly—have met.”
“That should be an interesting concoction,” he said, reaching his arms up and lacing his long, leather-callused fingers behind his neck. “I’ve been wrangling cows with your brother for a month.”
Jenn blew out a breath. “This is impossible,” she stated, as she twisted her index finger through her golden curls. “How on earth would I have ever even met a cowboy, much less have started dating one?”
Johnny winced inwardly. The way she said cowboy said it all. She wasn’t the type of woman, Johnny realized, who would be remotely interested in a down-home, backward cowboy.
Only, he wasn’t a wrangler.
Far from it.
If she knew who he really was…
No. That would ruin everything.
“Well, I’m doubting you took a trip to Wyoming to hang out with us cowboys,” he said in a soft drawl, stressing the word with the same emphasis Jenn had given it.
She chuckled. “Hardly.”
“Which means I must have come to Denver for some reason.” Johnny was starting to enjoy this, concocting this crazy story with her. A small wave of guilt passed through him—not the larger, more convicting stabs he’d had earlier, but more like the ones he’d had as a teenager, afraid he’d be caught sneaking out of his foster parents’ house late at night.
He welcomed the adrenaline rush that accompanied the thought. “I don’t have any family, so…”
“You were visiting friends,” she prompted. “Mutual friends, between you and me, as it turned out. I have a dozen married friends my family knows are always trying to set me up. That wouldn’t be so far-fetched.”
“We met, were instantly attracted to one another, and have been calling and e-mailing and seeing each other whenever possible.”
The instantly attracted part wasn’t a lie, anyway—at least on his end, Johnny thought. Jenn was beautiful, with her golden curls bobbing about her face and her blue eyes blazing with delight as the two of them solidified their story.
What man wouldn’t want to spend a little more time in her company, maybe get to know her better?
She frowned, pursing her lips together in the cutest way, like a toddler who’d been told no. “What about Scotty?” she asked with a tilt of her head that sent those curls afloat in the most enchanting way. Johnny was having trouble concentrating on her words.
“What about Scotty?” he asked belatedly.
“It seems an obvious enough problem to me. You guys have been together all month. How did our relationship slip past my brother? Wouldn’t you have said something about it—about me?”
Johnny chuckled. “For someone who studied human behavior, you sure don’t know men very well. We don’t talk a lot on the range, and when we do, it’s not about our relationships. Besides, it appears to me he’s taken to the ruse as much as anyone here. If he asks about it, we’ll handle it. Trust me.”
“I can’t believe I—we’re doing this,” Jenn said. She sounded a bit hesitant, but Johnny saw the excitement brimming in her eyes.
She had her reasons for playing this out, and he definitely had his own. It was harmless enough playacting. No one would get hurt.
Besides, he was doing her a favor.
Wasn’t he?
The fair damsel in distress, rescued by her knight in shining armor—or rather, in well-worn boots and a dusty old Stetson.
He stood and reached a hand to her. “Come on. Let’s go out and face the dragon.”
Chapter Three
Jenn didn’t know what she expected, but obviously she’d come to the wrong conclusion about this cowboy. Dinner that evening, at the big dining room table, with her grandmother’s best china and crystal, was enlightening in ways Jenn couldn’t possibly have imagined.
One thing was for certain—Johnny Barnes cleaned up well. When he walked in for dinner, he was clean-shaven, dressed in a crisp red Western shirt with pearl snaps, and a fresh pair of blue jeans, held up by a belt fastened with the inevitable oversize buckle that proclaimed he’d won some rodeo event at some point in his past. He’d even scraped the mud off his boots for the occasion.
Jenn found she almost had to pull her jaw off the floor, she was surprised by how good he looked. If Johnny was handsome with a week’s worth of sweat and dirt covering him, he was triply so now, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him, which of course he immediately noticed, if his teasing wink was any indication.
Jenn wasn’t the only woman in the room to notice him. Auntie Myra, Granny and even, to Jenn’s horror, her own mother began complimenting Johnny left and right, not even allowing him to get a word in edgewise.
“My, what a lovely shirt that is,” crooned Auntie Myra, hooking an arm through the young cowboy’s.
“Thank you, ma’am, I—” Johnny was immediately cut off by Granny.
“And just look at that extraordinary belt buckle. What were you, son? A bronc buster? A bull rider like our Scotty here?”
“A roper, but—”
“And look at that nice square jaw you were hiding under all that scruff,” said her mother.
“Amanda,” Jenn’s father warned, but to no avail.
Johnny just quirked his lips and shrugged. “Yes, ma’am.”
“His hat is still dirty,” Jenn pointed out, knowing she was grousing but not caring.
Every eye turned upon her, and everyone but Johnny was frowning their displeasure at her comment.
Johnny, of course, was grinning as if she’d just paid him the highest compliment.
She ignored Johnny’s smile and shrugged at the rest of her family. Her statement was true, wasn’t it?
Why would the man bring his cowboy hat to the dinner table anyway? At least he had the good sense not to be wearing it indoors, which would have set Granny on him like a pit bull on a piece of fresh meat.
Oh, who was she kidding? Jenn sighed inwardly, giving herself a mental shake. She was born and raised on a Wyoming ranch. All ranch hands had their boots and hats permanently glued to them.
“You may hang your hat on that peg over there,” Granny said, gesturing to a large pink and blue country pig plaque, with arms made for just that purpose. Scotty’s cavalry hat was already hanging from one of the pegs.
After doing as Granny suggested, Johnny returned to the table and pulled out a chair. But instead of seating himself, he offered it to Jenn, and then fussed around her until he was sure she was comfortable.
Playing his part.
And Jenn couldn’t have been more uncomfortable. Especially when he leaned down next to her ear and whispered, “I tried to brush my hat to get the grime off, darlin’, but I think the thing has near seen its last days.”
She didn’t know whether it was his warm breath on the nape of her neck, his leathery cowboy scent or the small endearment, but whatever it was, it was nearly her undoing. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She wasn’t used to being this near a man—any man—and this handsome stranger was far too charming for his own good.
Or hers.
His sitting down next to her didn’t help one bit, never mind the cheeky grin and wink he gave her. She knew it was for her family’s benefit, but it still made her uncomfortable.
Not for long, though. It was only moments before Johnny was chatting comfortably with her family, making everyone laugh with his silly jokes.
She sighed inwardly, wondering once again what she’d gotten herself into. She was going to be a cowboy’s girlfriend for two solid weeks. Why, oh, why, did the man’s name have to be Johnny?
The family began passing the dishes around, the cheerful babble of voices never ceasing as they piled their plates full of food. No one picked up a fork, however, not even Jenn’s cowboy.
Granddad, seated at the head of the table, cleared his throat, and everyone became silent. With the quiet reverence Jenn remembered from her childhood, her grandfather folded his hands and bowed his head.
“Let us pray,” he said, the usual cheerful gruffness for once gone from his voice, replaced by the humble reverence he offered the Almighty.
Jenn followed suit with the rest of her family, though she shot a quick sideways glance at Johnny. He, too, had his head bowed over clasped hands.
Why, Jenn wondered, did Granddad always wait until after the food was served to say grace? Her plate was steaming with fresh beef, a pile of mashed potatoes made from scratch, and green beans.
The aroma of the feast was tantalizing and far too delectable to pass up, and Granddad’s prayers were often too long and windy, at least for Jenn.
“We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of this day,” her grandfather began. “For the food you have provided, and especially for bringing a guest into our midst. We ask you to be with us this night, and to bless our good fellowship together as a family. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
There was a hearty echo of amens following the prayer, and Jenn even heard Johnny’s rich, deep voice in the chorus.
Jenn hoped Johnny didn’t notice that she didn’t join in. None of the rest of the family had, to her knowledge, ever noticed, thankfully, not in all the years since high school. Or if they did, they never commented on her lack of enthusiasm for anything related to praising and worshipping God.
It was one of the moments Jenn hated most about these reunions—the constant stream of prayers to a Heavenly Father she had long since stopped believing in. God was a myth, like Santa Claus. She’d gotten over it a long time ago, except here, in the midst of her family, where faith in God was all too real.
And too painful.
Granddad reached for his fork and havoc set in for the next few minutes as everyone sampled the feast and delighted Granny with their praises over her excellent cooking.
Almost everyone had contributed something to the meal. Even Jenn, who never cooked anything in the city, far preferring take-out to a mess in the kitchen, had been coaxed into snapping fresh green beans.
And boy, was she glad of it now. The thing she missed most about her childhood home, other than the family members themselves, was Granny’s mouthwatering home-style cooking. These were two weeks she didn’t care if the gravy on the mashed potatoes was clogging her arteries. The delicious meal was just too good to pass up.
It wasn’t long, though, before the family started chatting, and inevitably, the topic turned rather quickly to Jenn’s relationship with Johnny.
Jenn had thought Auntie Myra would lead the way into that territory, but it was Scotty who spoke up first.
“Now I know your secret, buddy,” Scotty said with an enthusiastic grin in Johnny’s direction.
Johnny wiped his mouth with the edge of his napkin before replying. “Oh, and what secret would that be?”
Scotty chortled loudly. “Why you were off hugging that laptop of yours every time we hit the bunkhouse. You hinted that it might be a girlfriend, but I had no idea it was my own sister.”
Johnny shrugged a shoulder, a forkful of beef hanging midair. “You caught me. I was trying to get to know this pretty young lady better. Tough to do when we’re riding the range.”
“My sister,” Scotty said, sounding amazed. “And I never guessed it.”
Johnny winked at Jenn.
“How did you two meet?” This time it was Auntie Myra doing the questioning, or rather, Jenn thought with amusement, the interrogation.
Jenn thought Johnny would field the question as he had the others, but he nudged her with his knee under the table. Apparently he thought it was her turn to do the talking.
Jenn smiled sweetly at Johnny but nudged him back.
Hard.
“We met through mutual friends,” she explained. “Really, it all started as a joke.”
“A joke?” Johnny queried. Jenn nudged him again with her knee. He wasn’t supposed to be asking any questions here.
“Well, yes, of course.” She looked deeply into Johnny’s eyes, sending him a silent warning to shut up and go along with her. “Mark and Julie were always nagging me, wanting to set me up with one of their friends or another. I don’t know why young married couples always think they need to share the wealth. Mark and Julie are happily married, so they assume I need to be, as well.”
“Hear, hear,” called Granny, holding her glass of iced tea in the air in a mock toast and making everyone at the table burst out in laughter.
“In any case, I finally gave in to their pressure and said I would meet one of their friends, on the condition that it be at their house, with them present.”
Johnny jumped in at that point. “I didn’t know anything about it,” he said, lifting his right palm out as if taking an oath.
Jenn’s eyes blazed intensely at Johnny before she forced a sickeningly sweet smile to her lips for his benefit more than that of her family. She wasn’t going to let him fluster her—not when so much was at stake.
“I arrived early,” Jenn broke in. “I think Mark and Julie planned it that way. So there I was, sitting on the sofa with Julie, when this man came in.”
Everyone’s eyes were riveted on hers.
Even Johnny’s.
And, as unusual as it was, not a single family member was speaking. Jenn started to enjoy spinning this yarn, though she still felt a little guilty for misleading everyone.
“I took one look at him and panicked. I thought my friends had gone completely crazy.”
“Because he was a cowboy?” Granny asked.
“Oh, no,” she said with a cheeky grin. “It was because he was short, bald, wore little round spectacles which looked like they’d come from the last century, and spoke with the highest-pitched, squeakiest voice I’ve ever heard in my life.”
The laughter in the room was deafening.
“Who was he?” Johnny asked curiously, then cleared his throat and continued, “I haven’t heard this part of the story before.”
Jenn chuckled, ostensibly about the story, but actually because of Johnny’s very truthful comment. Of course he hadn’t heard the story. He couldn’t have, since she was making it up on the spot.
“The bald man turned out to be a neighbor, just dropping in to say hi and return something he’d borrowed, I think.” She beamed at Johnny for her family’s benefit. “I cannot tell you how relieved I was to hear another knock at the door and see this tall, good-looking cowboy strutting in as if he owned the world.”
Johnny ruffled his fingers through his thick, dark, curly locks. “Wow,” he exclaimed. “I cannot say how truly thankful I am at this moment for this full head of hair of mine.”
If the story were true, Jenn thought, it might even have happened that way, Johnny being a cowboy or not. He was incredibly handsome in his nice, clean Western clothes, though she did wonder momentarily what he might look like in a business suit, his curls tamed with a palm full of hair gel.
But, no. That wouldn’t be Johnny; and at the moment, Jenn wasn’t sure she’d change him if she could. He was as wild and free as the Wyoming range, and he most definitely looked that way.
Oddly, Jenn found she couldn’t complain.
She realized she’d abruptly dropped her story with her daydreaming when Johnny picked it up.
“I don’t know for sure how it was for Jenn that night,” he said, smiling softly down at her, “but for me, at least, the moment our eyes met, I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I was a goner.”
Her gaze met Johnny’s at that moment, as if their story had been true. His midnight-blue eyes were shimmering with amusement and just a touch of something else Jenn couldn’t quite identify. Then his mouth did that cute little twist and Jenn thought, if the circumstances she’d concocted were true, she might have been a goner, as well.
Even with her past. Even with her secrets.
Johnny was getting to her somehow, and she took a mental step backward, bolstering the defenses she’d relied on all her life.
She didn’t want to go there—to the past. And she wasn’t about to let Johnny, with his good looks and charming ways, take her there.
Johnny wondered why Jenn’s smile had turned so quickly to a frown, and he redoubled his efforts to make the light come back into her eyes.
That she had been hurt in the past, by someone or some circumstance, was a given. She was all bottled up inside. He could see it through her eyes even now, though her gaze had become distant.
The clatter of a fork against a fine china plate interrupted his thoughts. “Love at first sight,” exclaimed Auntie Myra. “It’s so romantic. Was it that way for you, too, Jenn?”
“Myra,” Granny snapped, “don’t push the young people. It’s their story. Let them say what they want to say.”
“Indeed,” Jenn’s mother agreed. “By all means, go on. We’re all anxious to hear the rest of the tale.”
Even Jenn’s father and grandfather nodded at that statement.
Jenn went from dark to light in a split second, startling Johnny more than he realized. Did lying come so easy to her? She definitely had a knack for storytelling, and she was a phenomenal actress, for her eyes now held warmth toward him.
It almost felt like love, not that he had any experience in that area. He’d never found a woman who instigated the bevy of emotions coursing through him. Whatever he was feeling, it disconcerted him until he could hardly think.
“Just like the love songs paint it, I’m afraid,” Jenn admitted with a wink. “Take a look at him,” she said, smiling up at him and brushing a stray lock of hair off his forehead with the tips of her fingers. “Who could resist him?”
Johnny swallowed hard. The simple touch of her fingers running through his hair made his heart jump into his chest, thudding so rapidly he thought everyone at the table might hear it.
Jenn was a beautiful woman. What man wouldn’t be attracted to those bouncy golden curls and bright blue eyes so full of life and intelligence?
But he was getting off-track, and fast.
He reminded himself mentally that her actions were for her family. Part of the ruse and nothing more. Her touch had seemed somehow intimate, yet he knew it was all for show.
It meant nothing. So why did he feel like it did?
“Our dinner together was a bit awkward, with us gawking at each other across the table,” Jenn said, punctuating her sentence with a laugh that, at least to Johnny’s ears, sounded forced. “I think Mark must have kicked Johnny underneath the table a couple of times to keep the conversation flowing.”
Johnny winced visibly, then gave a rueful grin.
“He walked me to my car afterwards,” Jenn said, as Johnny slid his arm around the back of her chair. “Talk about cliché.”
“He snuck a kiss!” Auntie Myra exclaimed, slamming both her palms down on the table in her excitement, making the silverware and glasses nearest to her dance. “How incredibly romantic!”
“He did no such thing,” Jenn protested, with a shake of her head.
Johnny winked at her, but he couldn’t help that a tiny bit of his male pride was bruised by her harsh statement. Due to the fast pace of his career and nonstop working obligations, he hadn’t dated much in the past few years, but did she really believe kissing him would be so terrible?
“He remarked on how pretty the stars were that evening, and then he asked if he could call me sometime.”
“Well, ya obviously gave him your number, didn’t ya?” teased Scotty.
Jenn scowled at her younger brother. “I didn’t have to,” she stated bluntly. “He’d already gotten it from Mark and Julie on the sly.”
Granny snickered behind her hand. “Quick thinking, young man.”
“Of course, Johnny was busy,” Jenn continued. “We spoke on the phone a few times—when he called, that is—the man never did give me his telephone number, no matter how many times I nagged him about it. Mostly we’ve gotten to know each other through e-mail.”
The statement shook Johnny like an earthquake. The way she described their meeting—that’s exactly how it would have happened, if it had happened, for he certainly couldn’t have given her his telephone number for where he really lived.
Unless he told her the truth about his identity. Unless she knew who he really was.
Maybe if things had been different…
He shook his head mentally. This was nothing but a charade. He needed to get his head back on his shoulders, and right quickly.
Auntie Myra held her hands to her cheeks. “This is so romantic. I think I may faint.”
“Oh, knock it off with the dramatics already, Myra,” Granny snipped.
His supper finished, Jenn’s grandfather pushed back his chair and stood. “Seems to me,” he said with a slow drawl, “that given the circumstances, we ought to be giving these two youngsters some alone time.”
Jenn’s eyes widened. Johnny quickly slipped his arm from the back of the chair to her shoulders, where he gave her a reassuring squeeze. He was certainly aware she hadn’t concocted this story in order to spend time with him—alone. She’d made that perfectly clear.
“I think that’s a fine idea, don’t you, darlin’?” Johnny asked softly. “Maybe Jenn and I could take a walk. It’s a nice night out, now that the temperature has dropped some. She could show me around the ranch a bit, help me get my bearings.”
“Sure,” Jenn agreed, sounding, at least to Johnny’s ears, quite reluctant. Then she chuckled, surprising him with her sudden change in spirit. “Maybe Johnny can comment on the stars again.”
That got the family laughing.
“Just be sure and get his telephone number this time,” Scotty teased. “’Course, there ain’t no cell phone service out on the range.”
Jenn shrugged. “So I’ll get his house number. He has to go home sometime.”
Johnny cringed inwardly until his gut was in knots. The last thing he wanted to think about was going home. He rose to his feet and offered Jenn his hand. “Let’s go see those stars.”
Jenn took his hand, but dropped it the moment she was standing. She strode to the door, not even looking back to see if Johnny was following.
Johnny barely made it out the door after Jenn before he threw back his head and laughed heartily. “Darlin’, you really know how to spin a story.”
Jenn scowled and turned away from him, wrapping her arms around her, both for warmth and the sense of protection it offered. “Do you know what I just did?” she ground out from between clenched teeth.
“No. What?”
Jenn turned to him, her chest squeezing so tight she thought she might suffocate. “I just lied to my family.”
Johnny frowned. “Yes, we both did.”
Jenn shook her head. “It bothers me. I know I started it with that whole sending-myself-flowers thing, but I never dreamed I would end up creating an entire backstory to go along with the flowers. I feel so awful about deceiving everyone. They asked, and the words just flew out of my mouth before I could think about them.”
“I understand,” Johnny said softly. “You were under a lot of pressure there.”
“But I shouldn’t have made up a story. I should have told them the truth.”
“Yes,” Johnny agreed. “The truth is always best. But even without words, we’ve been lying to your family since the moment I walked in the door.”
Jenn clutched at her chest, which was still spasming so erratically she couldn’t take a proper breath. “What did I just do to the two of us?”
Johnny shrugged and shook his head but didn’t offer any kind of answer, not that Jenn really expected him to. It was right there in front of them both, whether spoken or unspoken.
“I’ve buried us, that’s what,” Jenn said with another scowl.
Johnny blew out a breath. He hadn’t been prepared for the way Jenn’s family had questioned them over dinner, though he realized now he should have been. Jenn’s family was boisterous and openly curious. They were bound to ask questions about his and Jenn’s relationship.
Johnny hadn’t been ready at all, and Jenn had simply panicked and spun a quick yarn to ease them out of a tense situation. He certainly couldn’t lay the blame at her feet. He didn’t want to. It was at least as much his fault as it was hers.
But no matter how he cut it, what they’d done was still lying, wasn’t it? What did it matter who said the actual words?
Guilt weighed heavily on Johnny, as it obviously did on Jenn. He wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was at this point. If they went and told the truth, he’d have to tell the truth about who he was.
He wasn’t ready to do that. Not for him, and definitely not for Jenn’s sake. He knew he was being stubborn and bullheaded, but he also knew, without asking, that Jenn was purposefully shielding herself from something, and hiding it from her family.
The problem was, he couldn’t straight-out ask Jenn what was wrong. He wanted to support her, he just wasn’t sure how. She’d made the rules, after all.
“I don’t know what to do now,” Jenn admitted in a coarse, conspiratorial whisper.
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