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Once Colin said his goodbyes to the family, he got into his sporty Mercedes Benz, and the engine purred as he drove down the driveway.
Once he was out of sight, Nash said, “So now we breathe a little again, right?”
Shep sighed. “Yes, that went well. He’s staying on as CEO.”
“One big worry scratched off the list.” Chase shoved his hands into the pockets of his Levi’s. Now that he’d had a taste of working construction, he would never go back. No one wanted Colin’s fancy office job, certainly not Chase.
“I am so incredibly proud of all of you.” Jenny kissed Shep first on the cheek, then promptly kissed Nash, followed by Chase. Her voice blistered. “Your father would have been so proud of each one of you.”
Chase smiled, knowing she wasn’t wrong. Everyone in the family had a role to play with this new venture. Shep had sold his house, moving in with Emma at the farm she’d recently inherited from her grandmother. With the funds from that sale, he’d fronted the money for the material and workers. After the grand opening, Nash would be the face of the guest ranch, since he was a retired professional bull rider. His fame would draw people in, and his experience as a cowboy would entertain the guests.
Without a single one of them, including Emma, the guest ranch would never have happened.
Jenny wrapped her arm in Chase’s. “I went to the post office today and sent the invites out.”
“Thanks, Ma.” Chase had given her the job because his mother looked ready to climb out of her skin. Shep had always wanted to protect her, but Chase saw she was eager to help them, beyond the fact that they were turning her living room into a dining hall for the guests until the money supply grew again, allowing them to build a large dining hall on the property.
Nash kicked a stone beneath his cowboy boot, sending the pebble rolling across the gravel driveway. “What invites did you send out?”
Since he had not exactly told his brothers this part yet, Chase explained, “I figured the grand opening is as good a time as any to bring out some investors. Hopefully they can put in a good word to anyone looking to build commercial properties in the area.” His dream was to specialize in resorts, especially large log resorts and luxury homes. Now all he needed was to find an investor looking to build such a property for Blackshaw Construction to go in the direction he wanted.
“Seems like everything is right on track,” Shep said to Chase. With a nod at Nash, he added, “We’ll leave you to it, and let you get the job done.”
Nash grinned. “Yeah, a job that includes keeping your pants on.”
“Nash Blackshaw!” his mother snapped.
Nash dodged the dishcloth being swatted at him, and loud freeing laughter that had not been heard at the ranch in some time echoed across the open fields.
* * *
By the time Harper arrived at the pet store, it was shortly before ten thirty in the morning. She pulled her white Honda over to the curb in the first available parking spot and smiled behind the wheel. Apparently, the promise of all the juicy details that Harper had promised to spill twenty minutes ago on the telephone made Emma move fast. Because beneath the storefront’s yellow awning, dressed in a cute purple sundress with strappy sandals, Emma waited with a paper coffee cup in her hand.
Harper cut the ignition and grabbed her purse off the passenger seat, hurrying out into the sunny day. Down the road ahead of her, a landscaping crew cut the grass edging the sidewalk. She inhaled deeply, getting in as much of that fresh Colorado air as she possible. That was one thing Las Vegas did not have, and one thing she would miss.
She made it onto the sidewalk right as Emma asked, “Before you tell me everything, and I mean you need to tell me every single detail of what happened last night with Chase, please tell me that we’re at the pet store because the puppy is okay.”
“The puppy is okay.” Harper opened the pet store’s door. “He’s got diabetes, the poor little thing. He’s at the vet clinic now, but Chase will be picking him up later today.”
Emma’s eyebrows rose. “Chase is keeping him?”
“Well, no, the vet is looking for a suitable foster family, so Chase is keeping him until she finds one.” Harper turned back to Emma after stepping into the store. “But even if he were to keep him, why would that surprise you?”
“Because it’s Chase,” Emma muttered.
Harper grabbed a shopping cart. “And that means?”
Emma shrugged. “It’s just, as you know, Chase is such a straight-and-narrow type of guy. It doesn’t make sense for him to take on a puppy with his new company and all; so yeah, him doing something so unlike him would shock the hell out of me.” She paused then shrugged again. “And it’s a pretty big commitment. His history shows he’s not really into that.”
Harper laughed softly, striding forward, walking slowly down the dog food aisle with Emma at her side. “What makes you say that? Because he hasn’t had a girlfriend in a while?”
“Nine months, actually,” Emma said.
Harper stopped dead. “Nine months exactly?”
Emma nodded and smiled, obviously reading between the lines too. “Shep told me Chase had been seeing someone for a while, but then ended things out of nowhere. After that, he slept with a couple women, then there’s been no one for the last . . . oh, three or so months.”
It wasn’t hard to know what the cause had been. Her. Harper assumed Chase had tried desperately to look elsewhere instead of at her. Then failed, just as she had failed to find anyone else even close to as interesting, attractive, and sweet as Chase had been these last three months. “We could be reading too much into that,” she offered, even though she knew better.
