No Strings Attached (Last Hope Ranch Book 1) Read online

  Clay chuckled. “Last time I checked having sex was kind of the conventional method.”

  “If you’re not smart, or if you want a kid bad enough. But there was nothing said about being interested in anyone—you know, in a romantic way.”

  “Maybe she’s going the artificial route,” Clay offered as a way to detour his mind from imagining Sally in a tangle of sheets, her red hair spilling over the pillows.

  Tyler took another bite of his burger and seemed to ponder that. “Possibly. But that costs a lot of money, and with all the stuff she’s doing on the house, seems a bit improbable.”

  Clay wasn’t sure how to respond. It wasn’t his business.

  “Hey, I’m going to go over and say hi. You want to come?” Tyler was halfway out of his chair.

  “Nah, you go on. I’m good.”

  Clay dug into his meal, trying to ignore how it bothered him that Tyler had slid into the booth next to Sally after Aimee excused herself to make a call. He chided himself that it was the only seat available. But he found himself thinking about what Tyler had said and the way Tyler’s shyness around Sally had seemed to suddenly disappear. Clays gaze was steady on Tyler as he casually dropped his arm over the back of the booth behind Sally’s shoulders. The cute blonde, seated in the chair at the end, seemed quite focused on Tyler. But what the hell did he know about the women around here… about women, period. He’d thought he knew the woman he was once engaged to… three weeks after he arrived stateside, the Army flew her out to Boston where he was recuperating. He hadn’t gotten his new leg yet. One look at that and she was history. She mailed the ring to him a week later.

  He shook his head to dispel the memory. He had no business traveling down that road again. He finished his beer and was debating a second burger when Tyler returned.

  “Just thought I’d be neighborly.” Tyler settled in his chair.

  “You want another beer? I’m buying.”

  “Sure,” Tyler said with a shrug.

  Sally, and her entourage met Aimee at the front of the bar. They paid their tab and left. Clay breathed a little easier.

  “That blonde, did you see her? She’s Angelique’s new assistant over at the satellite clinic. Her name is Kaylee.”

  Dixie stopped at the table. “You boys need anything?”

  “Two more beers and another burger.” Clay said. “You want another?” He pointed to his dinner partner.

  “Just the beer. I’m good.” Tyler had barely started his meal when he went to flirt with Sally.

  “So, this Kaylee? Is she around for a while?” Yeah, he was baiting the poor guy.

  Tyler looked up in surprise. “Yeah, she’s moved into an apartment over Betty’s diner. Temporary, until she can find a place.”

  Tyler stuffed a fry in his mouth and eyed Clay. “Why do you ask?”

  Man code for: hands-off. Clay smiled. At least his focus wasn’t on Sally. That somehow made Clay feel better. Not that he was interested. Yeah, that was a load. She was a good-looking woman, no doubt. And after the things they’d said to each other last fall, he was pretty sure that he had no chance in hell coming within ten feet of Sally Andersen unless it was to work on her house.

  He happened to look over just as Sally dropped her wallet in her purse. She looked up and he let his gaze linger a little longer than necessary. She blinked, ducked her head, and hurried out the door.

  “She sure is hot.”

  Clay’s attention snapped back to Tyler’s. He was about to take another bite of his burger. “Who is?”

  Tyler frowned. “Kaylee, of course.”

  Clay was grateful when Dixie brought his beer and more food to occupy the thoughts running through his head.

  He left the bar after Tyler wanted to play a round of pool with some guys from north of town. He nearly skated his way to the truck. The snow was coming down fast and heavy, and had quickly blanketed the parking lot and the streets. He made a quick stop to fill his truck and pick up a few groceries for the weekend. There were a couple of good wild card games on this weekend that he wanted to see.

  He picked up some cornbread mix, some soup starter, fresh veggies, and some chicken breasts, his mouth watering at the scent of his mom’s recipe of chicken soup cooking on the stove. On a day like today, that soup meant he was home, where it was safe and warm. Julie, his older sister, hadn’t transitioned to life in the trailer very well. She chose to be gone as much as possible, it seemed. Clay would watch his mom cook amazing comfort food dishes with what they had. He’d even helped her plant a small garden along the edge of the trailer home. Clay grew large and strong, excelling in nearly every sport throughout his school career. He attended college on academic and sports scholarships, but never lost his love for cooking, and it came in handy on game days when he’d cook for the team, impressing his teammates with his down-home culinary skills.

  He carried three bags to the truck, slipping and sliding on the walkway. The heavy, wet snow would have been difficult on two good legs, much less on a newly designed metal leg he was still getting used to. He had to scrape a thick coating of ice from his windshield that had formed in the short time he was in the store. It made him realize that no snowplow was going to venture out in this, and he sure as hell wasn’t interested in taking on the treacherous mountain roads at this hour. He peered across the lot, seeing icy sheets of snow slicing at a hard angle in the streetlight. He couldn’t see the bowling alley across the street. Climbing into his truck, he decided to give Tyler a call and ask if he could crash on his couch for the night. He let it ring several times and finally made the decision to drive the few blocks there. As he drove out of the lot, he could barely discern where the main road was and he hoped that Aimee and the girls had all decided to get home before this mess hit. He slid to a four-way stop and as he waited, dialed Rein.

  “Hey, Clay. Where are you?” Rein asked.

  “Still in town. Think I’m going to head over to Tyler’s place and crash there.” He looked through his windshield, waiting on the light to change. “I was calling to see if Aimee and the girls got home safely.”

  “They called earlier and we told them to stay in town. They’re all over at Sally’s. Yeah, best you stay in town—you don’t want to get out on that mountain road in this shit.”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you over at Sally’s in the morning.” The light turned green and Clay crept forward. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d seen it snowing so hard. “That is, if you can get in.”

  “I’ll call you,” Rein stated. “Hey, can you do me a favor and maybe run by Sally’s, make sure the electricity is working? Our lights out here have flickered a time or two, but Wyatt’s got the generator.”

  “I can do that. I’m not too far from there.”

  “Thanks, appreciate that. A little nervous with two pregnant women out there.”

  “I’m sure Sally has them all quite comfortable.”

  “I’m sure she does,” Rein responded. “Oh, and Clay. you might not want to let on that you’re there on a checkup mission. You’re walking into a house of alpha women, bro.”

  Clay smiled. He’d fought alongside some of the finest women on the planet. He could handle it. “I’ll use the excuse that I stopped by to pick up my tool belt.”

  “Hey, that’ll work,” Rein agreed.

  Clay hung up and shook his head. “Yeah, in the middle of some damn snowstorm. Not too transparent.

  Chapter Three

  “Well, it certainly seemed Tyler was receptive to the idea of helping us out with the bachelor auction.” Liberty sat on the rug in front of Sally’s fireplace, roasting a marshmallow.

  Sally sat with her legs curled under her at one end of the sagging, old camelback Victorian couch, she’d found at an estate sale one frivolous weekend. Aimee sat at the other end, wrapped in one of the many afghans Sally kept in the front sitting room. Replacing all the windows in her house was yet another thing on her to-do list which seemed to grow every time she sat for more than th
ree seconds alone in her house.

  “He did, but you have to remember Tyler is a one of our returning bachelors this year,” Angelique offered, sipping the orange juice and ginger ale drink that Sally had made for the non-wine drinkers in the group.

  Sally had to admit that the impromptu sleepover made possible by the worsening weather conditions had served to brighten her spirits. She and Aimee had spoken privately earlier in the evening and her friend had offered her apologies more than once.

  “I told Wyatt that you’d decided to pursue a child of your own. He was feeding Gracie. I was in the kitchen. His response was ‘that’s nice.’ And that it was it. He must have mentioned it to Rein, but I have no idea how it got started around town.”

  Sally didn’t blame Aimee. News like this doesn’t stay sedentary, once revealed, for very long. It’s as though it takes a life of its own. She had shrugged and found herself easing Aimee’s torment with having told Wyatt. “Chances are it will die out when the next ‘big’ thing comes along.” And she made the decision to put the strange day behind her.

  The wind outside whistled around the corner of the house, making Sally glad to be nestled inside with her best friends. “Okay, ladies, help me make a list of potential candidates for the auction.”

  “Sam Tanner?” Liberty suggested. “He’s single, well—a widower, right? But the guy could be Sam Elliot’s stunt double.” She smiled, then seemed to ponder. “But I bet he does his own stunts.” She popped a charred marshmallow in her mouth.

  “There is Evan Littlefield, Jr. Didn’t he just come back to work with his dad over at Montana West Bank?” Angelique piped up.

  Sally added the name to her list. Evan was not necessarily her cuppa, though a nice man, so she understood… mostly from Betty. Mentally, she chided herself for being as much a part of a paying passenger on the gossip railway in this town as a victim of it. “Who else? We have Tyler on board.”

  “Oh, how about Reverend Bishop from church?” Aimee offered. The Kinnison clan and a few friends had had a private baptism ceremony for Grace a few months back one Sunday after church. It’d had been the Reverend Adam Bishop’s first baptism since taking over the First Church of Christ from the retiring Pastor Riggs. “He seems like a nice man and he’d certainly be on board to help Ellie and the shelter out if he could.”

  “I saw him at the store the other day,” Angelique remarked. “He’s kinda cute… in a very clean-cut sort of way.”

  “Polar opposite of Dalton, you mean.” Liberty interjected with a grin.

  Angelique shrugged. “Always had a soft spot for bad boys, I guess.”

  “Well, Dalton can try all he wants to give off the bad boy vibe, but deep down he’s a total family guy. You can see that with how he is with Emilee,” Liberty said.

  Angelique smiled and gently rubbed her hand over her swollen belly. “We’re all very excited about adding another one to our family.” She and Dalton had only just reconnected after years of separation after a single night of unbridled passion left Angelique pregnant with Emilee. Last year, Angelique’s husband escaped jail and in a fit of revenge found and attacked Angelique where she’d been assisting at a veterinarian clinic in Billings. She survived and, by some miracle so had her and Dalton’s unborn baby. She hadn’t known she was pregnant when attacked. Dalton had wasted no time after Angelique recovered in getting married at the courthouse and making sure his name appeared officially on Emilee’s birth certificate.

  “Is it a boy?” Aimee asked.

  “That’s what the radiologist indicated with my ultrasound the other day.” Angelique smiled. “Emilee called it. I’m starting to wonder if she really does have her great-grandmother’s gift of being a seer.”

  “Dalton must be over the moon,” Sally said. She was so happy things had turned out as they had. Given the circumstances, it could have been much worse.

  “Oh yeah, and you should see him and Emilee planning out the nursery.” She grinned as though picturing them in her mind. “Emilee is very emphatic about what colors her brother is going to like. Dalton’s not really fighting her on any of it.”

  “The girl does have some kind of gift, that much is true.” Liberty shook her head. “That could get interesting in the teen years, mama.”

  Angelique nodded. “Don’t think I haven’t thought about that.”

  “Oh, what about Justin Reed?” Aimee said.

  “Who’s that?” Kaylee straightened in her chair. It was clear that Kaylee would soon be saving her pennies for this auction.

  “Sure, the new history teacher who replaced Mr. Worth after his heart attack. Great idea! He’s twenty-seven, unattached, and just moved here.” Sally made some more notes on her yellow legal pad.

  “So, as long as we’re on the subject of eligible bachelors, can we talk about Tyler for a minute?” Liberty shifted so she could face Sally.

  “What about him?” Sally shrugged.

  “Well, tonight over at Dusty’s was clearly some advanced flirting if I ever saw it.”

  Sally shook her head. “That’s just Tyler. He’s a different guy in private, trust me,” Sally said, and went on with making notes.

  Aimee looked from one woman to the other. “Did I miss something when I went to call Wyatt?”

  “Just Tyler making moves on our Sally,” Liberty interjected.

  “No moves were being made.” Sally batted away the implication.

  “He’s a really sweet guy,” Angelique offered.

  “I think he’s hot,” Kaylee stated, and then, realizing she’d spoken aloud covered her mouth. “I think maybe I’ve had too much wine.”

  Sally smiled, then looked at Liberty. “He is a sweet guy. I’ve known him practically my whole life. He’s like a brother to me.”

  “I’d say we better fill Rein in on that since he thinks the two of you would be great together.”

  “Yeah, and when did someone make him town matchmaker, anyway?” Sally piped up.

  “Okay, if not Tyler, then we need to find you another guy.” Liberty stood and looked around. “Where’s your laptop?”

  “On my desk, over there…why?” Sally followed as Liberty made a beeline to her computer. “What are you doing?”

  “Well, I happened across this the other day,” she glanced at Sally, “after Rein started trying to be matchmaker. I figured it might be a safer approach.”

  “To what?” Sally asked.

  “To finding you a cowboy to ride you off into the sunset, of course.” Liberty waggled her dark brows. “All we have to do is set up your profile on Montana.Match.com.”

  The wine Sally had taken a sip of spewed from her mouth. “You’re what? No. No. No. I don’t think so. What makes you think I’m interested in dating?” Sally went to the kitchen for a towel and some vinegar to clean the splatters of wine off her wool rug.

  “You’re not?” Angelique asked. “But I thought….”

  Sally, on all fours, dabbed at the spots. Her week came out in her fervor to remove the stains—Sam’s odd looks, Denise’s revelation, Nate’s cautioning her on what not to drink—had about caused her to snap. “What I mean is—” She ground the cloth into the stain. “Even if I had time to date, which I don’t, I don’t want to expose myself to a bunch of strange men on the Internet just to find Mr. Right.”

  “And Tyler?” Aimee asked.

  Sally tossed her a look. “Mr. Right for someone else.”

  Kaylee clapped her hands in glee and realized everyone was staring at her. “Sorry.”

  Liberty grinned. “Well, love, I’m pretty sure they require you to be fully clothed in your profile picture.” She offered Sally a wicked grin.

  All eyes and a couple of groans landed on Liberty.

  The lights flickered and then the house went dark, with the exception of the diminishing fire in the fireplace.

  “Guess that answers that question.” Liberty returned the laptop to the desk.

  “I’ll go get a couple more logs,” Kaylee said, jumping
up.

  Sally rummaged through her desk drawer, found a box of matches, and began to light the variety of candles she had lined up on the mantel. Most hadn’t been lit since she bought them, causing the flames to snap from the dust until the heat dissolved it.

  “Kaylee seems nice,” Sally said, glancing down at Angelique as she lit the last votive.

  “She is very good with the animals at the clinic, but I think she misses living in the city where there’s more things to choose to do on a Friday night.”

  “Seems she may have already found something that could keep her nights busy.” Liberty smiled as she drew the afghan around her shoulders and parked herself on the couch between Aimee and Sally.

  Kaylee returned, arms laden with a stack of logs that she dumped in the basket. She went about the task of building the fire back to blazing, the heat reaching out into the room.

  “So,” Liberty said, capturing Sally’s gaze. “Why don’t you give us your criteria, Ms. Andersen.”

  Sally had finished refilling her guest’s drinks and settled in beside her friend. “What do you mean, criteria?”

  Liberty shrugged, glanced at Aimee and Angelique, then back at Sally. “We’ve all heard the rumors. You’ve just stated that dating doesn’t interest you. So, tell us what your criteria for this baby daddy of yours?”

  Sally looked away, took a long swallow of wine, and sighed. She knew getting out of this was going to prove far more difficult than just coming clean with the truth. “Okay, first, part of what you’ve heard may be true. Aimee knows my thoughts on this and has already tried to talk me out of it.”

  Liberty rolled her hand as if to say get on to the good stuff.

  “Look, I’ve dated just about every guy in a sixty-mile radius of this town at one time or another.”

  All eyes were on her in the silent room.

  “Long story, short.”

  “Yes, please,” Liberty replied with a grin.

  Sally held up her finger. “Healthy. Trustworthy.”

  “That’s your second?” Liberty asked.