Page 44 of The Perfect Hosts

Lucy nods, in understanding. “I get that. But I also think of it as the place where her life was saved too. If you hadn’t walked in when you did, who knows what he would have done to Madeline? You distracted him so that the sheriff could get a good shot in and stop him.”

Wes laughs. “I distracted him with my head.”

“You know what I mean,” Lucy says, taking her eyes off the road to look at him. “I mean it could have been so much worse, and it wasn’t. What do you say? Let me fix up the nursery.”

“You really don’t have to do that, especially with how things are going between you and Madeline. Trent can do it, or we can hire someone,” Wes says.

“Yeah, but do you want to take Trent away from his other work? And do you really want a stranger in your house?” Lucy asks. “Some ghoul who will go home and start spreading gossip about you and Madeline?” Lucy knows she has Wes now. Despite his social nature, he’s also a man who values his privacy.“Come on, let me do this. It will be my gift to you both. And bygift, I mean I’ll provide the physical labor. You’re footing the bill for everything else.”

Wes laughs, but Lucy can tell he’s mulling it over. She needs to be indispensable to Wes and Madeline. For now. “Okay, then. Sure,” he says, as she maneuvers the car through Lone Tree’s front gate. “But let me talk to Madeline. She might need a little convincing.”

“Trust me,” Lucy says. “It will be spectacular, and Madeline deserves every bit of it.”

“Thanks for coming to get me, Lucy,” he says, reaching over and squeezing her hand. “I owe you one.”

“My pleasure,” she says, bringing the car to a stop in front of the house. It’s quiet. There’s no sign of Trent or Mellie or any of the other ranch hands. “Now, you need to go directly to bed,” she orders.

“No,” Wes says, with a shake of his head. “I’m going to go find my brother for myself.”

“Today?” Lucy asks. “You think that’s a good idea?”

“Probably not,” Wes says. “But he’s my brother.”

“I get it,” Lucy says. They sit there in silence for a moment, staring at the spot where the old barn used to be. “So Johanna Monaghan, huh?” she says, with a sly uptick of her mouth.

“No way,” Wes says, holding up one hand as if in surrender. “Dalton was way off with that. I don’t know who his wife was screwing, but it wasn’t me.”

“He seemed pretty sure of himself,” Lucy says, snagging the cup from Wes’s hand.

“I’m not cheating on my wife,” Wes says, looking Lucy straight in the eye.

Lucy holds his gaze and slides the straw between her lips, taking a drink of the melted shake before speaking. “I believe you,” she finally says. “But would you?” she whispers, leaning in close.

“Would I what? Cheat on Madeline? No way,” Wes says, snatching at the cup, but Lucy pulls it out of reach. “Did you cheat on your husband? Is that why you got divorced?”

“Nah, it was nothing like that,” Lucy says. “But that’s not to say I wouldn’t have, if the right man came along.”

“Oh?” Wes says. “And who would the right man be?”

Lucy shrugs. “I think the bigger question right now is who is the right woman?” She slides the cup between Wes’s legs, letting her fingers rest on his thigh.

Lucy watches as Mellie comes out of one of the bunkhouses and stops short when she sees who’s in the car. Lucy leans in close to Wes and whispers in his ear. “She’s staring at us. I wonder if she likes to watch.”

“Lucy,” Wes groans, lifting her hand from his leg but not releasing it. “What are you doing? I’m married. To your sister.”

“True,” Lucy says. “She is my sister, but you have to admit, she is kind of a bitch. And if you ask me, so is that one.” She tips her head toward Mellie, who has bent down to busy herself with tying her shoe.

Wes shakes his head with a laugh, releases her hand, and pushes open the car door and heads to the stables while Lucy lets herself into the house. She brews coffee using Madeline’s fancy espresso maker and pours some into Wes’s stainless-steel travel mug, when he comes in from outside.

“They found Dix,” he says, excitedly. “I’m going to grab a few things and head out.”

“Oh wow!” Lucy says. “Is he okay? Where is he?”

“At a hospital in Salt Lake City,” he responds. “The ambulance took him to Idaho Falls first, but he was in too bad shape, so they airlifted him there. He had to have emergency surgery. They removed his spleen.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Lucy asks. “I can drive.” She hopes Wes says no. She really wants to be here in the house, but offering seems like the right thing to do.

“No,” Wes says. “I’m going to stop and talk to the ATF agent first, but if you can stay and work on the nursery and keep an eye on things here, that would be great.”