Page 75 of A Rancher's Bride

She wasn’t going to lie. Getting the chance to still be in his bed—not a thing a girl wanted to turn down.

“I’ll come up, but I’m keeping this room,” she informed him.

He didn’t argue. Just waited as she put a few more things into a bag then he picked up her suitcase and walked out with her.

It was fast, and yet after being coworkers and friends for so many years, like Luke had said, getting to steal time together in a more physical way was the next logical progression.

Just like facing Ashton was only the first in a long line of challenges.

Luke had some work to do, so she ended up eating supper with the other hands. She faced their questions about the gala, but kept her mouth shut for now about her and Luke. Partly because it wasn’t what they were curious about, and partly because—

Just because.

After she was done, Kelli made her way to the ranch house, knocking at the back door tentatively in hopes she could catch Tamara in good enough shape for a visit. It was important that she went and shared what was going on before she got cornered into it. Logical, but…

Logic sucked.

Lisa opened the door, her friendly face breaking into an enormous grin. “Well, now.”

“Tamara here?” Kelli asked.

Lisa jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “You want some supper?”

“Already ate in the mess hall. But thanks.”

Kelli took off her boots then slid across to the living room. She stopped, holding back her amusement.

Caleb sat in his easy chair, looking none too easy. The younger of his little girls was combing his hair. Emma had pulled most of it into teeny bunches so she could wrap elastics around the ends. The process had left tuffs standing upright asymmetrically all over his head.

Sasha was at his right hand, deploying nail polish. His eyes were closed as if pretending they weren’t there would make the torment go away, or at least be over sooner.

Kelli glanced to the right. Tamara was curled up in her usual corner of the couch, laughing silently as tears ran down her cheeks. She had a hand slapped over her mouth to keep the sound from escaping.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Kelli said as deadpan as possible.

Caleb grimaced, keeping his eyes squeezed tight. “If I don’t see you that means you’re not here. And if you’re not here, you can’t possibly know what’s going on, right?”

“Sounds right to me,” Kelli agreed. “The ostrich-head-in-the-sand trick has a long and honourable tradition.”

Sasha didn’t look up from where she was adding black dots to the red on her father’s nails. “Kelli says if you can’t fly, be like an ostrich and run like the wind.”

“That’s a very good Kelli-ism,” Tamara assured her daughter, wiping tears away. She offered Kelli a wink then patted the seat next to her. “You. Drop it right here.”

She hadn’t been planning on a family discussion, so was thankful when a moment later Emma and Sasha hurried over and gave their mom hugs before tugging Caleb from the room.

“Night, Mommy. Night, Kelli,” Sasha said.

“Night, Mama. Kelli,” Emma echoed, blowing her a kiss before returning to help Sasha drag Caleb away.

Lisa was still in the kitchen, but Tamara spoke softly enough to not be overheard. “All I want to say—promise you’ll remember you’re a part of this family? No matter what.”

Warmth flooded Kelli’s heart. “I told Luke that when he was being an ass. So, I think it’s a pretty well-established truth.”

Tamara grinned. “Good for you.”

She closed her eyes and curled her arms around her stomach.

Kelli laid a hand on her knee. “Anything I can do to help?”