The Last Christmas Cowboy Page 3

  “It’s a deal. You’ll see.”

  “Oh, I imagine I’ll see plenty.”

  And with that, Rose decided she was done with him. Done having the conversation. Sometimes there was no one more infuriating in her life than Logan Heath.

  But he was her closest coworker. And in many ways, had grown into being one of her best friends. Except, an older, grumpy, superior best friend, who could be a serious pain in the ass sometimes.

  So really, another brother.

  She was going to succeed with Iris. And then she would set Logan up, too. She wouldn’t let him put a damper on her plans. On that she was determined.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “WHAT’S THIS I hear about going out to the bar tonight?”

  Logan let out an exasperated snort as he was approached by his friend the next day. He stopped moving in the middle of scooping up a shovel of stall shavings. “Your sister is cooking up one of her harebrained schemes.”

  He didn’t have to specify which sister.

  Ryder knew without needing to be told.

  And Logan could see a train wreck coming from a mile away. But Rose wasn’t going to be convinced. She wasn’t going to be convinced until she forced everybody into an awkward situation. She had done that with himself and Sammy, and thankfully the two of them were self-actualized enough—and not into each other enough—that it hadn’t bothered him at all.

  Logan had known that it was Ryder who was in love with Sammy. And he had been reasonably confident that Sammy was into Ryder, and had absolutely no designs on Logan at all. It had been confirmed when Sammy had gotten pregnant, and the father was Ryder. Now the two of them were married, which was basically how Logan had always thought it should be.

  And frankly, confirmed that he had a slightly better eye for these things than Rose.

  In Rose’s defense, she was young.

  As she had pointed out, thirty-two was too old for her.

  At twenty-three, she was determinedly going around trying to write checks she didn’t have the experience to cash.

  He tried not to remember the way he had felt when she’d said that. Thirty-two being old.

  It had been like a barb under his skin. Made him feel like exactly what he had been concerned he might be for the past couple of years. Nothing more than a dirty old man.

  Hell, it was just wrong to notice that his best friend’s little sister was hot as hell. But it was more than hot. It was a chemistry thing.

  Which he also had experience enough to know.

  It seemed to be one-sided, which was a gift in and of itself. Because Rose was like a determined little terrier, and when she got her teeth sunk into an idea she went full bore with it. And the last thing he needed in the whole world was for Rose to decide to sink her teeth into him.

  He gritted his teeth against the kick of arousal he experienced at the thought.

  In front of her damn brother.

  “What is she up to?” Ryder asked.

  “She thinks that she’s going to set Iris up.”

  Ryder frowned. “What, with a man?”

  “Yep.”

  Ryder let out a howl. “No shit.”

  “Seriously,” he said.

  “Well. I have a feeling that’s not going to go very well for her.”

  “Nope.”

  “Are you going to go?”

  “Yes,” Logan said without hesitation.

  “Why? I think you should let her make her mistake.”

  And he realized that no matter how silly he thought it was, he couldn’t let her go off and do this on her own. Because the fact of the matter was, Elliott was going to believe that Rose was interested in him. She was officially biting off more than she could chew, and he actually wasn’t willing to leave her to that.

  It wasn’t because he couldn’t stand the idea of another man touching her.

  No way in hell.

  He was protective.

  “Hey, I’m just not willing to miss the show,” he lied.

  “Better you than me. Sammy’s energy is at a premium, and I think I would rather be at home with her than out watching Rose be a heap of trouble.”

  “Hell,” Logan said. “If Iris decides not to go out we’ll all be better off.”

  “You could warn her,” Ryder said.

  “I could,” Logan responded. “Of course, then Rose would kill me. Anyway, you’re right. Rose needs to learn her lesson.”

  He was going to be there, granted. But the fact of the matter was Rose did need to learn. She was up in people’s business far too often. And he could see that this was headed for absolute disaster.

  It might be necessary for her to take a fall. But he was damn well going to be there when she did.

  Because that was what he did. He protected her. He’d done it all her life. But then his feelings had begun to shift, begun to change.

  And after that shift there had been moments. Late nights on the porch drinking beer. Times when they’d be out working and their bodies would brush against each other, and he was close enough to press his lips to her neck if he just angled his head.

  It had forced him to make a choice. Between changing what they were, and staying her protector as he’d always been. When working with her had started to become a strain. When he had begun to notice the softness of her body when he would press up against her while they wrangled a calf, or noticed the scent of her when the breeze kicked up when they were out in the field together.

  He’d recommitted himself. To keeping her safe.

  Even if it meant keeping her safe from him.

  Because this place was his home.

  Because Ryder Daniels had supported him through the worst thing in his life, while grieving his own losses.

  He remembered the night they’d found out their parents had died. Clear as if it were yesterday and not nearly eighteen years ago. They’d all been staying in the main house on Hope Springs, caring for each other while their parents went on that trip. They hadn’t known they’d end up like that always.

  Ryder had been stoic. Ryder had been the only one over eighteen. The one who’d had to sign paperwork and deal with Child Services. The one who’d had to wrangle insurance and plan funerals.

  The only thing Logan had been able to do for him was let him break.

  He could remember that night well. It had been six months after they’d died. He’d found Ryder out in the barn, by a big old box of beer bottles. He was halfway through his fourth beer and tipsy and angry.

  Ryder’s dad and uncle had kept a whole supply of beer outside in the colder months, and Ryder had stumbled upon it and figured...why the hell not drink it.

  “No one’s here to stop me,” he’d said, kicking one bottle over. “Have a beer, Logan. I’m your guardian. I say you can.”

  And Logan had. Then he’d had two. Then three.

  And by the end they were both drunk and broken. It was the only emotion he’d ever seen Ryder show. The only time he’d faltered. And he’d cracked apart.

  “I’m not supposed to be here,” he’d mumbled, sitting on the ground with his knees pulled up to his chest. “I was supposed to be a thousand miles from here. In college. Playing football. I wasn’t supposed to be everyone’s dad.”

  “Sorry,” Logan had slurred. “But I don’t know where I’d be if you weren’t here. I wouldn’t have anyone. My mom was all I had.”

  “You have us,” Ryder had said. And it was like he’d found that strength again, that he’d been leaning on all those months, that had cracked just for a little while. “What-if doesn’t matter. You have us.”

  He knew what this had cost Ryder. And he...he could never take for granted what Ryder had sacrificed for them.

  He wasn’t a part of the Daniels family. He was the outlier in a way that not even Sammy was.

/>   Because no matter what, no matter how much time passed, he would always bear some of the weight of guilt for what had happened.

  And touching Rose would be the greatest sin he could ever commit.

  Ryder’s youngest sister. The sister he had always trusted him with.

  Even worse, Rose trusted him.

  Plus, Rose didn’t look at him like that at all.

  If Rose even realized he was a man he’d be shocked.

  So he protected her. It was what he did. Because if he was actively protecting her, if he was standing guard, then he couldn’t... Well, then, he couldn’t do anything that both of them would regret.

  “So, you’re not coming to the bar tonight?”

  “I’d rather die.”

  “Fine. I’ll give you a full report.”

  “I knew I could count on you,” Ryder said, clapping him on the back.

  And that was the thing. Ryder knew that he could count on him.

  And that meant he had to keep on doing exactly what he had been.

  “Always.”

  He meant it.

  * * *

  “I’M REALLY GLAD that you agreed to come out tonight,” Rose said cheerily, parking her truck on the curb and getting out, her sister Iris following behind her.

  Iris’s version of dressing up wasn’t particularly eye-catching. Not that Rose could judge really. Her version of dressing up was to put on a belt with rhinestones and a clean T-shirt.

  But Iris wasn’t... She didn’t work outside and her clothes tended to be dowdy. Rose might not fix up, but she didn’t downplay her beauty. It seemed sometimes like Iris did. Tonight her brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a demure sweater with a high collar and snowflakes knitted into it.

  Logan was meeting them there, at least. Ryder and Sammy had bailed. So had West and Pansy.

  It occurred to her, though, that it was a little bit strange. In general. Because with her trying to set Iris up with Elliott, it created sort of a pairing-off situation.

  She wished that Jake or Colt were around. Her cousins could have helped defuse that feeling. Although, it might be a good thing. After all, there was no temptation for her and Logan to actually think they were being paired off, so if Elliott thought that was the case, all the better. It would give him the idea of what was happening a lot quicker.

  He was already there when they arrived. He was wearing a collared shirt. It was plaid, but she had to give him points for trying. She looked over at Iris, and then back at Elliott. “I’m so glad you’re here,” Rose said. “This is Iris,” she said. “Iris, do you know Elliott?”

  “I’m sure that we’ve met,” Iris said, casting Rose a glance.

  “Well, here’s a formal meeting. I met Elliott last night, and I invited him to join us for drinks tonight.”

  “Great,” Iris said.

  Her sister sounded hesitant, but Rose knew that it was just taking her a while to get warmed up. Because Iris wasn’t used to going out. And meeting with people that weren’t family anyway.

  The door opened, and Logan walked in. He was wearing a black T-shirt that molded tightly to his hard body, honed by hours of manual labor outside, and a black cowboy hat. She couldn’t help but think that he looked better in a T-shirt than poor Elliott did in plaid.

  An odd feeling settled over her skin. A strange sense of...pride or something. As if her being linked to him in some way made it special that he was good-looking. But she knew that women liked Logan. And she got to work with him every day. It did make her feel a little bit smug and proud.

  He was special to her.

  She had just gotten them settled at a table when Logan approached them, and she grabbed hold of his arm. “Let’s go get beers,” she said. “Iris, Elliott does water filtration systems. He can tell you all about it.”

  Then they began to walk quickly over to the bar. “That was mean, Rose.”

  “It was not mean. He likes to talk about his business. And Iris will see that he is eligible.”

  “He’s boring as hell.”

  “Now who’s mean?”

  “Let me ask you this—why are you so intent on setting your sister up with him and not you? If you really thought he was such a great guy, wouldn’t you want to go out with him?”

  “Because I don’t want to be set up with anyone.” There was something in her eyes that went beyond resistance. It was almost fear.

  “But you think the rest of us should all line up to employ your matchmaking services?”

  “I’m not at the age where I need intervention yet.”

  He huffed a laugh. “Oh, okay. So we’re supposed to accept this pity dating service from the young and fresh-faced?”

  “It’s not a pity dating service. But everybody... Everybody took care of me, Logan,” she said, vibrating with frustration, irritated by the fact that he had managed to use his words and implacable demeanor to scrape down a layer inside of her and reach parts of her heart that she didn’t particularly want to feel herself, much less perform for anyone else.

  “Now, I want to make sure that everyone is taken care of. I want Iris to be happy. Don’t you think... It took Ryder so long to figure out that he loved Sammy. Pansy never dated anybody until she met West. I already told you I worry... I just wonder if Iris poured so much into taking care of me, into mothering me, that she’s never had a chance to go out and be with anyone. I don’t think she’s ever been on a date.”

  “Neither have you,” he pointed out, his words a missile hitting their target directly. As they often were.

  “Well, maybe I will. After this. After I make sure everyone is taken care of.”

  He shook his head. “You know, that’s not what everybody needs to be happy.”

  “No one wants to be alone.”

  “Iris isn’t alone,” he said. “You’re not alone, I’m not alone.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “But you just said you don’t want to be matched up with anyone.”

  “Right now,” she said.

  “Okay. So you think that maybe Iris hasn’t ever been with anyone because she was so busy taking care of you. And you haven’t taken care of anyone. So why is it that you’re by yourself?”

  She blinked. “I don’t have time for it.”

  “You don’t have the time for it? Here we are, out having a beer. You could be having a beer with Elliott just as easily as Iris is.”

  They both looked back at the table where they had left the other two behind. Iris looked like she wanted to pull her eyelashes out, so great was her discomfort. Elliott didn’t seem to notice.

  Iris would be fine if she wasn’t so wound up about the whole thing.

  “Well, there doesn’t seem to be much easy about that,” he said dryly.

  “She just needs time to warm up.”

  “Why are you meddling?”

  “I already told you,” she responded. “I want to make sure that everyone is taken care of. That’s it. I want to give back something of what I got.”

  “Next time make her a cake.”

  “She’s better at baking than I am. She’s better at... everything than I am. The only thing I’ve ever done for Iris is give her a potential streak of premature gray hair and teach her enduring patience. Nothing has made this clearer to me than watching...watching my other siblings do new things, have new lives, while she hasn’t. She had to raise me, and don’t think I’m not aware of that. You, too,” she said.

  He drew back. “I didn’t raise you.”

  “You know. But you are always there. You and Iris and Pansy and Ryder. Colt and Jake helped out, too. You were all there for me. And I was the baby. I couldn’t contribute anything.”

  “Nobody would have asked you to.”

  “I know that,” she said. “I know. But still.”


  Laz Jenkins, the owner of the bar, sidled up to where they were standing. “Anything I can get you?”

  “Yes. Four beers,” she said. “Whatever you have on tap that is good.”

  Laz nodded in the affirmative and pulled four beers, setting them out on the counter. “On your tab?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Come on,” she said, picking up two of the beers.

  “Maybe we should walk slow.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m not in a particular hurry to get back to that.”

  “Come on. We need to help Iris feel at ease.”

  “I don’t think anything is going to do that.”

  By the time they got up to the table Logan had plastered a smile on his face. He was obviously ready to at least pretend to be well-behaved, and for that she was grateful. Because knowing Logan it could have gone either way.

  “We were just talking about...water filtration,” Iris said.

  “Well,” Elliott added, “Iris was also generously sharing her sourdough recipe with me.”

  “Oh, yes,” Rose said, feeling animated now. “Iris makes absolutely the best sourdough bread. She’s been making it for me since I was a kid. She got the recipe from our mother.”

  Iris nodded, forcing a smile. “Yes. I did.”

  “Iris can send it to you!” Rose said. “It’s really a great recipe.”

  She realized he might not bake, but he did seem enthused about the subject so that was potentially a good sign.

  “That would be terrific,” Elliott responded.

  They found a rhythm in the conversation, and while it was true that Elliott could never be called a sparkling conversationalist, he was serviceable enough. And in fact, this time around they got a chance to see a little bit of his humor. Iris began to warm up, bringing her own sly humor to the conversation, which Rose always enjoyed. Iris wasn’t flashy or animated with her humor, but she was clever. Rose had always thought that about her sister. That she was a diamond in the rough for anyone who wanted to actually get to know her.