The backup bride proposa.., p.17
The Backup Bride Proposal, page 17
“I’m already in love.” She turned her head to look at him, seeing the flare of heat in his eyes. “With the ranch, I meant.”
A quirk of a smile crossed his lips. “Of course. Come on, let’s change and I’ll show you the ranch. You brought boots, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did. And extremely provocative lingerie—in multiple colors, I might add—that you’ll just have to think about the rest of the day.”
“Oh, man. Now you’re just torturing me.”
She laughed, cupped his chin, then rose up to press a soft kiss to his lips. “That’s the idea.”
Kane was already dressed appropriately but she wasn’t, so he left the room. Mae changed into jeans and her boots, along with a gray T-shirt, then braided her hair, reapplied her sunscreen and headed downstairs. Donna was in the kitchen, rolling out dough.
“He’s out back waiting for you, honey,” Donna said.
“Thanks. What are you making?”
“Biscuits to go with supper. Dad’s smoking some ribs to put on the barbecue later. We’re having beans and corn on the cob and biscuits. You’re not a vegetarian, are you? If you are, I can fix something up for ya.”
“No, I like meat just fine, but thank you for asking. And supper sounds amazing. I can’t wait.”
Donna smiled. “Thanks. Go get your tour, now. Oh, before you head out there, grab a cowboy hat. It might not be summer but you have a beautiful face and you need to protect it from the sun. The spare ones are in the mudroom off to your left.”
“Thanks.” After picking out a hat, she went out the back door and found Kane sitting at the table, talking on his phone. Or, rather, he was arguing with someone, so she decided to give him privacy. She stepped off the porch and did a slow wander, taking in all she could see, which included multiple horse barns, trails that she was dying to explore and people milling about, all of whom looked extremely busy doing whatever it was they did.
“Sorry about that,” Kane said, coming up to walk beside her.
“No problem. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just a discussion with my agent.”
“Sounded more like an argument.”
He laughed. “That’s how most of our discussions go. He’s looking out for my future, so I get why he pushes. But sometimes I push back.”
“Ah, I see. It’s good to have someone in your corner, though.”
“That it is.”
He walked her around to the horse barns, which were gorgeous, and she met some amazing, beautiful horses. She could have spent the entire day there, but he finally dragged her away to the arena, where there were several horses and people working. That was where they found Kane’s grandfather and aunt.
“Climb on and we’ll watch,” Kane said, helping her up on the top post of the arena.
It was like a ballet, watching the graceful horses prance around the arena. Adam and Tess were obviously practiced riders who knew exactly how to maneuver the horses, speed them up and get them to quickly turn and then come to an abrupt stop, dust flying up around them like a sudden tornado. Mae was mesmerized at the way horse and rider were in absolute sync.
“This is the way we train the cutting horses.”
“For rodeo,” she said.
“Yeah.”
She’d been to plenty of rodeos. You couldn’t live in Oklahoma without having gone to at least one rodeo. She’d been to several. The horses were always her favorite.
“Do you train horses to work here, or for show?”
“We board and train horses here for various people, both those who show and those who rodeo. We also train new riders who want to enter the circuit.”
“I’m sure that keeps everyone busy.”
“It does.” They continued to walk along, coming to another barn.
They went inside and she gasped at these beautiful creatures. Various colorings, but all majestic.
“And then there are the racehorses. They take some special care.”
“The ones with the armed guards.”
He laughed, but also somewhat uncomfortably scratched the side of his nose, making her wonder if there was, in fact, someone armed watching over these beauties with a rifle.
He finally cleared his throat. “Let’s just say no one’s going to pull a trailer in here in the dead of night and run off with them.”
“Oh, I believe you. And I’m happy remaining ignorant on how they’re protected.” She reached out to run her hand up and down a filly’s forehead. “They’re sweet creatures, aren’t they?”
“Wild and spirited, for sure. They need someone with a confident hand.”
The filly gave an abrupt shift of her head, letting out a loud whinny. “She feels insulted, don’t you, baby?”
Kane let out a short laugh, then walked over to the horse, smoothing his hand over her crest. “Yeah, you’re fine, aren’t you, Annie?”
“Her name’s Annie?”
“Her owners named her Run Run Rhianne. Everyone calls her Annie for short.”
She couldn’t get enough of touching Annie, who seemed to love the attention.
There were more horses, each one more beautiful than the last. Except for Annie, of course. Mae had taken quite a liking to her.
There were so many training arenas and tack rooms and barns and storage areas that it seemed like they walked a mile back to the house. Her throat was dry from the walk and all the dust swirling around in the wind.
They walked inside, immediately assailed by the most incredible smells coming from the kitchen and from the smoker outside. There were pots on the stove, water boiling, and Donna was peeling potatoes. Mae took off her hat and hung it up. She waited to see if Kane would pull off his dusty boots. He didn’t, so she didn’t, either. Instead, she went over to Donna.
“Smells amazing in here. Can I help you?”
“No. You’re a guest and guests don’t cook around here. Besides, this is my job and I love my job.”
The one thing Mae knew about was not interfering in someone doing work they loved. “Okay. Mind if I get some water?”
“Of course. Help yourself.”
“I’ll get it,” Kane said, walking over to the cabinets to grab two glasses. There was a pitcher in the fridge and he poured water out for both of them, then they took it over to the living area and took a seat.
“Tomorrow we’ll saddle up and take a ride,” he said. “Then later I’ll walk you through the trails.”
She laughed. “Trying to make sure I get my exercise while I’m here?”
“We don’t have to do any of that if you don’t want to.”
“I’m teasing. I can’t wait to do all of it. I want to see and experience everything. This place is massive and gloriously beautiful. Can we do a sunrise ride tomorrow morning?”
He gave her a wide smile. “Yeah, we can.”
She smiled back at him, ready for this adventure. “Great. Let’s do it.”
Chapter
twenty-two
Kane had to admit that he thought Mae was mostly joking about the sunrise ride, especially since they’d been up late last night. She’d showcased her lingerie, and one thing had led to another, and then another, followed by another. He barely remembered falling into an exhausted sleep sometime around one. So he figured the idea of getting up before the sun was probably not going to happen. But Mae had left the bed before him, and was already dressed with coffee waiting for him when she woke him up. The coffee was just what he’d needed—that and the beautiful, dark-haired siren leaning over him.
“Let’s roll, cowboy,” she’d whispered, pressing her lips to his. “Sunrise is coming.”
He downed the coffee, brushed his teeth and climbed into his clothes while Mae braided her hair. When they were both ready they were out the door, heading toward the barn where the working horses were housed. The dogs had bounded out the door as well, running amok to parts unknown.
“You need help saddling?” he asked.
“No, thanks, I’ve got it.”
He saddled his horse, Arnold, then watched as she did hers, a mare named Joy.
He watched to make sure she didn’t need assistance. He should have known better. Mae was adept, knew every step like she’d done this before and double-checked her work to make sure the saddle was on securely.
“Nice work,” he said.
She grinned, put her foot in the stirrup and hoisted herself onto the mare. “Yeah, I did a summer in college working as a hand on a ranch. I learned a lot.”
“Yeah? That must have been fun.”
“It was hard, but also one of the best times of my life. I met amazing, hardworking people who changed my worldview. Plus, I’ve always enjoyed learning something new. And that’s never a bad thing.”
He could well imagine. “I can still remember coming here every summer as a kid. My grandparents would put me to work from sunup until sundown, doing everything from cleaning the chicken coops and horse stalls to grooming the horses. I had to learn how to care for every horse before I ever had the chance to saddle up and ride one.”
“That must have been frustrating.”
“It was, but, like you said about your experience, I learned a lot. And I never took for granted the importance of caring for the animals and how that had to come first before the fun stuff.”
“Like riding.”
He looked over at her and smiled. “Yeah. Like riding.”
The skies were just starting to lighten when he led them down a riding trail to the east. No trees in this area to obstruct the sunrise view. The horses had taken this path before, so they knew the way without much leading. He knew the way, too, had taken rides every day whenever he came here. Which meant he could focus more on Mae, who seemed comfortable in the saddle, her attention focused exactly on what it should be—her horse and the way in front of her.
The path was wide enough for them to ride side by side, so he pointed out various spots of interest, like a fallen log or a hidden pond, told her about his favorite spot for fishing as a kid.
“I used to go here all the time with my grandpa. He’d tell me stories about when he was a kid.”
“That must have been fun. Probably enlightening, too.”
“Yeah, it was. Every time I wanted to complain about being worked hard, I remembered the stories he’d told me about his childhood and I shut right up and did what I was told.”
She slanted a smile at him. “Smart.”
He led them to an overlook just as the sun started to rise, so they stopped and got off the horses, walking them over to some shade trees. Kane took Mae’s hand and they hiked up to an outcropping and sat. Kane pulled his water container out and handed it to Mae, who took a sip.
And then the sun lifted over the horizon, sending out orange and yellow streaks like it was reaching its arms out for a wide morning stretch.
Mae was silent for a long time, obviously taking it all in, so he didn’t say anything, letting her watch. He liked that she didn’t immediately pull out her phone to take pictures. Sometimes you just needed to be in the moment so you could appreciate it more.
“Wow,” Mae finally said, looking over at him with a wide smile. “It must be incredible to see that every day. No clutter around, no big buildings blocking your view.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty sweet. The nice thing about getting up early to do chores or go fishing is you get to watch the sun come up.”
“It’s good to have some advantage to getting up before the sun.”
“Yeah. How about you?”
“What about me?”
“Seen many sunrises?”
She laughed. “A few here and there. Not many as amazing as this one.”
He leaned a hand back on the rock. “Wouldn’t it be great to live in a place like this someday?”
“A ranch? The thought never occurred to me. What about you?”
“This is where I want to live. I mean, not this ranch. It belongs to the family and I’ll always be a part of it. But someday I’d like to have a place to call my own.”
“You want space.”
“Yeah. A few horses, some dogs, several acres. Just some space to wander.”
“Sounds ideal. It would be a nice landing spot for you when you have a break from movies.”
He laughed. “I don’t intend to make movies forever.”
“You’re hardly over the hill. I think you’ve got a lot of years ahead of you.”
“Maybe. If that’s what I choose to do.”
She cocked her head to the side. “You’ve got something else in mind?”
“Maybe. Acting has been fun, but I’d like to move into producing. Directing, too. Put other people to work and go more behind the scenes. Search out projects, obtain the rights to them and see them through from start to finish. I’ve always been interested in the process of moviemaking, the way a project comes together.”
“I could see you doing something like that. If you produce, would you have to be on set for the entire movie?”
He shook his head. “No. I’d pop in periodically, take meetings with the key personnel, make sure the project stays on budget and on time. But otherwise no. And I could set up my office at home so I’d be free to do whatever I want wherever I want.”
“Doesn’t it take capital to be able to do that?”
“Yeah, it does. I’d probably start a company with a production partner or two, that way we’d be competitive.”
“Why the shift? I mean, you could act well into your later years if you wanted to.”
“I know. And I enjoy it, but I want to be able to have free time. I want to have a ranch, some land. I want to have a family and have the time to enjoy them, not go from one movie set to another.”
She stared at him for a minute, her expression revealing nothing, then said, “You have thought about this. About your future.”
“For a while now. I’m not saying I’m ready to do this tomorrow, but within the next few years or so? Yeah.”
“Wow. I’m impressed, Kane. You’ve got it all together.”
He laughed. “I don’t know about that, but I’m formulating a plan.”
They got up and climbed back on the horses, continuing their trek along the path. As they rode, Kane wondered if he’d revealed too much to Mae about his plans. He hoped he hadn’t sounded too full of himself. But just voicing his desires for the future had gotten him so excited that once he’d started he couldn’t stop. And Mae had asked questions. She’d seemed interested, so he’d just gone on and on about it. But maybe it hadn’t been so bad. She hadn’t rolled her eyes or told him it wasn’t something he should consider.
And why was he so worried what Mae thought?
Because you care what she thinks.
Yeah, he did.
They made their way back to the barn, unsaddled the horses and brushed them down while the horses enjoyed some feed and water. After they put the saddles away in the tack room, they walked out.
“You’ve been pretty quiet since we watched the sunrise,” she said.
“I was thinking that I’d vomited out my thoughts for the future and maybe I overwhelmed you.”
She stopped and turned to him. “Your thoughts about the future were fascinating to me, Kane. Don’t ever be afraid to tell me what’s on your mind.”
Okay, that was settled.
“Thanks. Sometimes I think I get ahead of myself.”
“Sounds to me like you have a solid plan. I don’t know if you’ve written it down somewhere in some official long-term business plan yet, but even if it’s only in your head right now, you know where you’re going. That’s huge.”
He slung his arm around her shoulder as they walked to the house, then stopped before they walked up the back steps. He pulled her close and kissed her, long and slow. “Thanks.”
“I’m always here for you.” She laid her palm on his chest and he felt that warmth all the way to his heart.
* * *
••••••
Mae watched Kane as they sat at the table and ate one hell of a hearty breakfast with his grandpa, Tess and Donna.
He’d poured his heart out to her at the rock this morning, telling her his plans for the future.
He had mentioned wanting a family, a home, a new career. He just hadn’t asked her to be part of all of it.
Aren’t you jumping the gun just a little, Mae? Have you asked him to be part of your future?
Okay, fine. Point taken. Maybe she’d gotten excited listening to his ideas, and she had pictured herself in that scenario with him. The ranch, the land, the horses and dogs and future sunrises. And marriage and kids.
Silly idea, really. She liked where she was right now and had no plans to upend her life for anyone ever again. And marriage? Really? When had that gotten back on the table for her?
“Are you going to stare at those biscuits all day, honey, or are you going to eat them?”
She looked up to see Tess smiling at her from across the table.
“Oh. Sorry. Lost in thought. Did you want me to pass the plate?”
“I wouldn’t say no to another biscuit.”
Mae held up the plate and it got passed around. She listened to everyone talk about their plans for the day, though they weren’t as animated at the breakfast table as they were over dinner last night. Mostly because everyone was busy drinking coffee and filling their stomachs with biscuits, gravy, eggs and bacon and sliced cantaloupe. She normally ate a small bowl of oatmeal or the occasional granola and yogurt in the morning, so she considered this a feast. She also knew they worked every calorie off during the course of a day on the ranch. Whether she would was another matter, but it didn’t stop her from filling her plate.
After breakfast, everyone hustled out the door. Mae started cleaning the table.
