Page 26 of Take Me Please, Cowboy (The Calhouns & Campbells of Cold Canyon Ranch #1)

J osie had been incredibly nervous during the drive to Bozeman. They’d left the house at four thirty in the morning on Thursday, getting them to Bozeman by ten thirty, in plenty of time for a quick lunch, a relaxed campus tour, and then her three o’clock interview in downtown Bozeman.

Rye was waiting for his sister at a coffee shop not far from the design firm, and although he’d been keeping an eye out for her, she’d found him before he saw her approach.

“I love them,” Josie said, practically dancing around the table.

She pulled out a chair and sat down across from him.

“They do amazing work. They are leaders in universal design, corporate and residential, and we started talking about how great design should work for everyone, and how accessibility shouldn’t have to look institutional. ”

Rye couldn’t remember the last time Josie was so excited. “So, you got the job?”

“It’s an internship, and I’ll get some college credits—”

“I thought they were paying you?”

“They are, and until school starts, I’ll work full-time and then cut back to part-time once classes begin next August.” She paused, drew a breath.

“They even know of a place I could rent, it’s a little studio here downtown, but walking distance to the office.

It’s not available until January, but I’d be living in a real city. I’d be part of all this!”

“Too bad we can’t see the apartment, make sure the building is safe, and all that.”

“We can if we want. Just not today.” She gave Rye a hopeful smile. “Why don’t we spend the night here, see the apartment in the morning, and then drive home?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to remind her that it would be expensive staying overnight. They’d need two rooms since he wasn’t going to share a room with Josie. She was an adult, and he respected her privacy. “It’s not a bad idea,” he said.

She was immediately on her phone searching for motel rooms. It didn’t take her long to find something that could work—a one bedroom suite where she could sleep on the pullout bed and he could have the bedroom.

“I’ll take the pullout,” he said.

“Not with that arm,” she answered. She glanced up at him, still smiling, still so excited. “Should I book it?”

“Yes. Then let whoever needs to know that you’d like to see the apartment in the morning. I won’t feel good about you moving here if it’s not a good location.”

“Rye, you know I can handle myself.”

He looked at his beautiful sister, truly stunning with her violet eyes, dark hair, and high cheekbones. His mother must have looked the same as a young woman. “I’d be a terrible brother if I didn’t check it out.”

“I agree.” She sat back and sighed the most contented sigh. “Can you believe this? I was so upset at having to push back school for another year. I think I cried all June, but now I have this opportunity. I can’t tell you how lucky I feel.”

He was glad. Truly glad. He had been the one to say no, they couldn’t afford to send her to college this year.

He’d been the ogre who’d pointed out that there wasn’t enough for both Hannah and Josie to go away at the same time, and since Hannah was older, she took precedence.

He’d felt awful. He’d hated to be the dream crusher but someone had to be practical.

“You’ve earned this,” he said gruffly. “And deserve this. I’m proud of you Jo-Jo.”

She grinned. “Thank you. Now let’s check into our room and relax a little bit before we get some dinner. What do you say?”

“I say yes.”

They left the coffee shop and were walking toward his truck when a poster in a window caught his eye. He stopped and glanced from the poster to the name of the business. The Bozeman Big Sky Gallery. Ansley’s show. It was here. The reception was tonight.

“What?” Josie said, stopping next to him.

Numb, Rye nodded at the poster. “I know her.”

“What do you mean, you know her?” Josie asked, moving closer to the poster to read it for herself. “Who?”

“Ansley Campbell.”

“You do?” His sister glanced at him surprised. “How?”

He wished now he hadn’t said anything, but it had been such a shock to walk down the street and see her name. “I met her in Marietta a month ago when I was here for the Copper Mountain Rodeo.”

“Really? Then we should come tonight for the artists’ reception. I bet she’d love to see you.”

Rye made a rough sound, shook his head. “I don’t think she’d be that happy to see me.”

“Why not? Were you rude to her?”

He growled his frustration. He’d brought his sister to Bozeman, but he wasn’t escorting her to a gallery reception. “Not rude, no. But it’s not something I want to discuss.”

“Why not?”

“Why not what, Josie?”

“Why can’t you talk about it?”

“Because it’s… in the past, and once things are in the past, it’s better to just let things be.”

His sister took a step back, arms folding over her chest. “So, it’s like that.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he snapped.

“You hooked up.”

“We didn’t hook up . She’s young, just a couple years older than Hannah. I don’t hook up with kids.”

Josie couldn’t suppress a smile. “You are so worked up. She did a number on you.”

“No, she didn’t. And Ansley did nothing wrong. She’s perfect. She’s gorgeous—so beautiful it took my breath away the first time I met her—and she’s talented. She’s kind and smart and she has backbone. She’s… special.”

“So, why wouldn’t she be happy to see you? What did you do to make her hate you?”

“I didn’t say hate. She just—oh, drop it. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Josie sighed. “You hurt her.”

Rye took an angry step backward. “I didn’t hurt her, not like that. After I broke this,” he added, nodding at his arm still in the sling. “I realized I couldn’t be in two places at once. I couldn’t take care of things at home, and make things work with her.”

“It’s a six-hour drive to Bozeman from Eureka.”

“Seven to Marietta.”

“Which is nothing for you, so clearly she wasn’t perfect, because if she had been, that drive would have been a piece of cake.”

“It’s a lot more complicated than that, sis.”

Josie shrugged. “I just don’t believe you, Rye. You would not let a seven-hour drive keep you from the perfect woman. That doesn’t make sense because you’re the most determined man I know. You never give up. You never quit—”

“This is different. I’m not free to pursue her. I’ve the family to take care of.” He abruptly stopped talking and turned away, hands on his hips, frustration in the rigid set of his shoulders.

“You let her go because of… us ?”

The pain and disappointment in his sister’s voice wounded him. “Think about it, Jo. Jasper needs better care. He’s having issues. I can’t help if I’m not in Eureka—”

“But I’m still there. I can help.”

“Dating costs money. Gas is expensive. I made you wait a year for college because we didn’t have the means to send you, so how do I justify suddenly blowing cash on romance? I couldn’t. It didn’t make sense. I made the right choice.”

“I’m sorry, Rye.”

He turned to face her, undone by the sympathy in her voice. She hadn’t created any of this and at twenty she shouldn’t have to feel any guilt. “I’m good,” he said, looking her in the eye. “I am.”

“But all you do is work. You should enjoy life a little bit. You should enjoy being single. You’re not bad-looking—”

“Thanks.”

“And sometimes you have a good personality.”

“How you flatter me.”

Josie blinked away the sheen of moisture in her eyes. “Let’s go to the artist reception tonight.”

“No.”

“Just for a while.”

“ No. ” Rye looked at his sister like she was crazy. Maybe she was. She was a Calhoun after all. “Didn’t you hear anything that I just said?”

“I heard you say Ansley was pretty much perfect, and I have never heard you describe any woman as close to perfect. And then you gave me a bunch of lame reasons—well, actually, only two lame reasons, but they’re terrible.

She doesn’t live that far away. It’s a drive.

Big deal. You drive all the time. And yeah, gas is expensive but so is everything.

” She looked up at Rye, expression pitying.

“Stop being pathetic, Rye. I’m almost embarrassed for you. ”

He pressed his lips into a hard line, unamused. “Be embarrassed. But there’s no way I’m going to invade Ansley’s event tonight. This party is a big deal for her. This exhibit is a big deal. She was really excited about it.”

“All the more reason for us to go. If the show is so important to her, you must stop by tonight to congratulate her.”

“We came to Bozeman for you to do the interview. You’ve done the interview. In the morning, we head home.”

“But since we have no plans for tonight, let’s pop in.”

Rye was done arguing. He continued walking toward his Silverado which was parked several blocks south of the gallery. From the corner of his eye, he saw Josie take a photo of the event poster in the window, but he said nothing, just wanting the whole subject to drop.

Of everyone in his family, Josie was most stubborn.

He’d never met anyone more stubborn. Their mom used to tease her that it was because she was a Taurus, and Rye, who took no stock in horoscopes or astrology, did agree with his mom that Josie could be incredibly bullheaded, but she was also fearless and tireless when it came to achieving her dreams. She wanted to be a designer that helped people, that improved lives.

She wanted to make a difference in the world.

There was no way he’d stay upset with her, not when Josie had the biggest heart of anyone he knew.

Happily, after a few minutes, Josie seemed willing to let the whole Ansley-art-reception topic go, and they passed a local brewery that specialized in wood-fire pizzas.

Josie, who’d been so nervous about her interview with the scholarship committee, hadn’t eaten more than a mouthful in days, begged to stop for pizza.

They did and had a very nice early dinner of pizza and beer.