Page 36 of Take Me Please, Cowboy (The Calhouns & Campbells of Cold Canyon Ranch #1)

“Because it didn’t matter before. You seemed happy here, or at least, content to continue.

I try not to think too much. I try not to feel too much.

I try not to focus on things that might not come true, but between us, I would love to do something else.

I would love to try something else. I would love to think that my future won’t be exactly like the past nineteen years.

I love your brother and I love your dad, but there’s not a lot of freedom.

I wouldn’t mind feeling as if there were a few possibilities.

Perhaps that’s selfish. Perhaps women… mothers…

aren’t supposed to feel that way, but I wasn’t always a mother.

I was once a girl and I had so many dreams. I was going to travel and explore the world.

I was going to go to all those different wineries around the world and pitch in during the harvest season.

I knew someone who was from Kelowna who did that in Germany and Australia.

She went from harvest to harvest and ended up seeing the world.

I wanted to do that, too. I’ve always had this thirst for adventure.

But then I met your dad, and fell in love, and the rest is history. ”

“You regret marrying Dad?”

“No. But I do wish he hadn’t got hurt. I wish we’d had better insurance.

I regret decisions his father made. I regret that no one in the Calhoun family knew how to run a ranch and racked up decades of debt, leaving your dad to sort it out, and then you to deal with it.

Now here we are, the product of generations of bad choices and I don’t want you to get trapped here, like your dad did, and his father before him.

You’re tough, but that toughness also makes you inflexible, and life requires flexibility, and a willingness to adapt.

Change. You have to change, Rye. You have to put you and Ansley first, and then you can help the rest of us, but if you’re not happy, none of us will ever be happy.

We’re that dependent on you.” She rose and brushed a tear off her cheek.

“Now, if you truly want to stay here, I can be good with that. If you are happiest here, I can be happier here. But, Rye, if you think there’s more for you somewhere else, then do what you need to do. ”

*

Rye didn’t share any of this with Ansley. It wasn’t something he wanted to discuss on the phone. Instead, he’d talk it out with her once he was in Marietta.

He drove down Friday afternoon, arriving at Bramble House late Friday night. He was meeting Ansley for breakfast in the morning at the Main Street Diner and then he’d share everything his mom had said. He couldn’t wait to see Ansley. Morning couldn’t come fast enough.

She was there at Main Street Diner when he arrived and he swept her into his good arm, lifting her off her feet. “That was the longest week,” he said, kissing her.

“I agree. At one point I wasn’t sure today would come.”

“Let’s get a table, I’ve lots to tell you.”

The hostess seated them at a window table, but neither of them were interested in anything outside. Rye took her hand, and she held it tightly, even after the waitress filled their coffee and took their order and walked away.

“I don’t know where to start,” Rye said quietly, and it was true.

He didn’t know how to put everything his mother had said into words.

The last time he and Ansley had been together, they’d talked about Eureka and converting his trailer into a cozy little house, and now it was all changing.

“Remember how you said my mom seemed sad?” he asked.

Ansley nodded.

“You were right,” he said. “I never knew that. I didn’t realize what she was feeling. I didn’t know how trapped she felt.”

Ansley pressed his fingers. “She probably didn’t want you to know.”

“After I returned from Whitefish, it all came out. She doesn’t want to stay in Eureka. She wants to move.”

“But what about your family property? And Calhoun Roofing?”

Rye shook his head. “We’d sell it. Close it. We’d start over, start somewhere fresh.” He glanced down, feeling her platinum band on her finger. “You’ve had this sized.”

Ansley smiled, her fingers curling around his. “I wanted to wear it. I needed to wear it. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” He turned the band again, rubbing his thumb across the little diamonds. “I need you. I need your courage and fire. I need your smiles and laughter. You have a way of making all things seem possible.”

“All things are possible,” she said, holding his hand tightly. “We just have to stick together.”

“We’ll do it here, in Marietta,” he said. “You’re happy here and if we found a place close to town, my mom would be happy, too. I don’t want her feeling isolated anymore.”

“I agree.” Suddenly tears filled Ansley’s eyes. “And I promise to be a good daughter-in-law. I promise to be a good sister to Jasper and your sisters—”

“I have no doubt about it.”

She hesitated. “I have something to share, too.” Her head lifted and her blue gaze met his. “Some of my family has come out this week. It seems my brothers want to meet you, make sure your intentions are good.”

“They know we’re engaged.”

“I didn’t tell them. I only put the ring on after they’d all arrived and demanded information.”

“Then how?”

“My mom.” Ansley made a face. “She wasn’t trying to get them all out here, but she mentioned to Van that things were looking serious between us, and within two days the brothers were flying in.

My uncle’s house is pretty full, so full in fact that three of my brothers are bunking down at the Wyatt’s. ”

“When do I meet everyone?” he asked, sitting back to allow the waitress to set their hot plates in front of them.

“Today.” Ansley reached for the salt and pepper. “If you’re up for it.”

He thought for a moment, shrugged. “Might as well get the introductions over. It can’t be any worse than your first impression of us in Eureka.”

Ansley wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t count on it. The Campbell brothers are a whole thing.” She pushed the salt and pepper across the table, but he wanted the hot sauce.

“Long as they’re friendly.”

“No one should throw a punch, if that’s what you mean.”

Rye suddenly laughed. “Sounds interesting.”

“So you don’t mind if we head up after breakfast?” she asked.

“No.”

She suddenly frowned. “Oh, they still think I’m moving to Eureka, and just to lay all the cards on the table, there was some pushback.”

“Because Eureka is a long drive from Marietta?”

“There was concern that I was abandoning Uncle Clyde, and it seems from what he’s told Mom, my uncle has grown attached to me.” She laughed and shrugged. “Who knew?”

Rye had picked up his fork but for a moment he could only look at Ansley, all gold and glowing, so full of sunshine. He didn’t know why she loved him, but he wasn’t complaining. “Good thing we’re staying close.”

*

They left Ansley’s car on Bramble in front of the bed-and-breakfast and drove together to Cold Canyon Ranch in Rye’s truck.

“Tell me everyone’s names,” Rye said as they left Highway 89 and headed east for the mountains.

“My mom is Andrea,” Ansley said, “and my dad’s name is Callen, but he’s not here, thankfully.

It’s going to be hard enough with the brothers.

” She exhaled as if suddenly nervous. “The oldest is Vander, he’s a navy fighter pilot, and then it’s Knox, he’s a tech guy and lives in Austin, and then it’s Lachlan, Duncan, and Fin, he’s the youngest. Fin’s my favorite.

We were pretty close growing up. He’s eighteen months older than me but we were just a year apart in school. ”

Arriving at the house, Rye parked next to the vehicles already there, two cars and two trucks.

Ansley’s mom came out of the house and met them in the driveway.

She looked more Ansley’s older sister than her mom, wearing stylish jeans and a pink and white striped T-shirt that showed off a trim figure.

Her long highlighted blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

“So good to meet you,” Andrea said, giving Rye a hug.

“I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re here. ”

“I understand your sons are here,” Rye answered.

Andrea exchanged glances with Ansley. “Don’t let them intimidate you,” she said, patting his back. “Just like their dad, their bark is worse than their bite.”

“That’s reassuring,” he said, smiling at her. “But to put you at ease, I’m not worried.”

“He’s a professional cowboy, Mom,” Ansley said, linking her arm through Rye’s. “He deals with tough animals for a living.”

“That’s good because your brothers are wanting to talk to him for a few minutes without you there.”

Ansley groaned. “Mom, that’s not happening.”

“I don’t mind,” Rye said. “In fact, it might be better that way. They’ll have questions and we can talk freely without worrying about your feelings.”

Ansley tugged on his good arm. “But what about your feelings?”

He smiled down at her. “Not easily hurt.”

Ansley looked at her mother. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Mom. I don’t.”

Her mother shrugged. “He’s a man. He can handle himself.”

Rye eased his arm from Ansley’s hold and kissed her forehead and then her mouth. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

“He’s right,” Andrea said. “It’s not as if your brothers will hit a one-armed man.”

Rye laughed. “Where are they?”

“In the living room.”

Still smiling, Rye climbed the farmhouse steps and opened the front door.

It wasn’t a long walk to the living room, and they were all there.

Brother after brother after brother. Rye counted five.

So, all five of Ansley’s older brothers had made it to Cold Canyon Ranch.

Interesting. They must have been seriously concerned.