“Now,thatI’ll drink to.” Tamilee raised her glass. “To girlfriends and cheap drinks.”
“To girlfriends and cheap drinks!” I chorused with Emma, both of us tapping our glasses with the others.
We licked the salt off our wrists, downed the tequila, bit the limes, then slammed our glasses on the woodenbar top. Warmth shuddered through me, leaving me a little looser in its wake. I wasn’t a big drinker, so when I did imbibe, it packed a punch.
“So, you were a Marine?” I asked Tamilee. I loved getting to know people even when I didn’t intend to know them for more than a night. People and their stories fascinated me. I recalled the “About Us” page on the ranch website, and how they had all served in the military.
Tamilee nodded. “That’s right. They paid for college and my DPT to be a physical therapist.”
“And the Marines is how you met Jeremiah and the others? I mean—” I bit my lime again. “I mean Seb, Liam, Mateo, and Holly?”
“Oh, no. I didn’t meet that lot until I came to Mercy River. It was Daniel Cole, Liam’s younger brother. I was his physical therapist when he was injured on his first tour. Daniel is the one who brought all of us here. He’s the linchpin.”
“My husband,” Emma added quietly, and I blinked in surprise. I hadn’t realized she was Liam’s sister-in-law. “Blair’s dad.”
Tamilee squeezed her hand. “That’s right.”
There was no wedding ring on her finger. Emma saw me look and gave me a tight, sad smile. “Widow.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. The words weren’t enough, but they were all I had.
She nodded, her green eyes shiny. “Thank you,” shesaid. “It was years ago, but I still cry. I cry about everything.”
Tamilee squeezed her hand again. “He was a good man. And, as I said, the linchpin of the group. He and Liam grew up here, you know. This was their family’s ranch for generations, but a few hard years back to back, and they had to sell. Daniel had the idea of them all investing and being part-owners and opening up the ranch to paying guests.”
“I didn’t know that,” Cecily said. “I mean, I knew Liam’s brother died in a car accident some years before I came here, but I didn’t know the ranch was his idea.”
“There’s a memorial page about him on the website,” Tamilee said, and I frowned because somehow I had missed that. I thought I had looked at everything on the website before booking my cabin for two months, but then again, with my life in shambles, I probably missed a lot of things.
“They don’t talk much about Daniel,” Emma said softly. “Not with guests or staff, anyway. They’re a pretty insular group, the five of them. And I think it’s still a painful subject for all of us.” She ran her fingers through her hair, fluffing it up with a little shake. “Anyway. Can we…I don’t know. Talk about something else? Please?”
Grace gave her sister a side hug, then signaled Tonya, the bartender. “On it.”
“Another round?” Tonya asked, palms braced on the bar.
“Hell, yes!” Cecily exclaimed.
“Wait, who’s driving?” I blurted out. Grace had met us here, and Cecily had given me and Emma a ride. Tamilee had insisted on driving herself so she could leave on her own schedule, claiming her two decades on us meant she had a bedtime two hours earlier.
“Don’t worry. I’m switching to water now,” Emma said. “Can’t let Blair see me sloppy. Between me and Jeremiah, we’ll get everyone home safe and sound.”
At the mention of his name, my gaze slid his way again. And then it stayed there, lingering on the way the brown beer bottle was nearly completely hidden from view as he rolled it between his large palms.
There was something about his hands that fascinated me. The size, for one. I didn’t have to wonder if the size of his hands might portend the size of other delicious things because I’d already felt the proof of that pressed against my rain-soaked body. But they looked so damncapable. That large knot of muscle between his thumb and forefinger. Those long, blunt fingers that looked both nimble and strong made me think of all kinds of ways to put them to good use.
Watching Jeremiah engulf the bottle with one hand, his index finger hooked around the neck, was better than a porno. I wanted those hands on me.
“Jeremiah is driving?” My voice sounded far away to my own ears. Every cell in my body was leaning toward him. I hadn’t seen him since Blood Ball yesterday—when he’d used his body to protect mine, according to Emma. I still didn’t know what to think about that.
“He never has more than a beer when we’re out,” Emma said. “Always insists on being the designated driver.” She shook her head, laughing. “He trusts them with his life, but not with driving, apparently.”
Cecily nodded. “Control freak.”
“We don’t call him Dad for nothing.” Tamilee raised her glass, then tipped it to her ruby lips, swallowing it down in one gulp. “Whew. Now I’m switching to soda. Hangovers are nasty at my age.”
“He’s protective.” Emma tilted her chin to me with a sly little smirk. “Right, Lennon?”
I yanked my gaze from Jeremiah with a sputtering cough. “Um, what?”
