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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Nash was the luckiest man alive! He leaned over the console in the pickup and brushed his lips over Emily’s cheek. She smiled and reached over to him, squeezing his shoulder with her fingers. He felt like he was melting. It was already Friday evening, and they were coming back from the north side of the ranch. It was a forested area with plenty of water sources and breathtaking bluffs.
Emily had set up a hammock, so that when he came back from surveying the area, he’d found her reading a book. She’d looked so peaceful sitting there that he’d jumped into the hammock next to her, unsettling the serenity by sending her careening into his lap.
It had taken them awhile to unwind themselves from each other’s arms to get back into the truck. By then the evening had begun to change the bright blue sky into pinks and oranges as the mountains in the distance swallowed the sun.
He grinned. He just wanted to drag Emily to the nearest justice of the peace and make her his. He almost burst out laughing, just imagining how that would go over with her brother. If Nash thought River wanted to strangle him now, that would be nothing to what would await him after an elopement.
Emily sniffed. Her allergies had been bothering her since the forest. She leaned back into her seat, watching their view from the windshield. The dark forest disappeared into a steady stream of meadows and hills the closer they came to Millie’s. “I wonder if your brother has killed my plants yet,” she said.
“Wait, what?” Nash turned at that.
“I put Porter in charge of watering my plants while I was gone.” She giggled. “Do you think I made the right decision?”
He laughed. “Why Porter of all people?” His twin could barely keep himself alive.
“He offered to help, and I took him up on it.”
Ha, biggest mistake of his life. As a rule, Porter was naturally tenderhearted, but sometimes his generosity got him into trouble. No way would he ever have the kind of patience to keep Emily’s plants alive, though he’d be withering in guilt over it. Man! Nash missed him! Harvest Ranch seemed to be calling to him the more time he spent out here on Millie’s land. Nash wanted to smuggle Emily home and never look back.
Watching the sweetness of her face in the dying light, he started worrying about deciding to go along with West’s plans. His conscience had gnawed on him since the beginning of this. No matter how much he’d tried to bury his doubts with Emily’s kisses, his guilt had haunted him worse than before. He was consumed with the desire to be worthy of her.
Ironic, since the instant he took moral action would be when he lost the opportunity to be the man who could care for her in the way that she deserved. The impossibility of his situation filled him with resentment. And still, Emily had never told him how to run his career. It didn’t matter. He suspected that she’d never understand if he didn’t take the high ground; it was just who she was.
Only one man had the power to tell him what was what.
Nash’s cellphone was set in a holder on the dash of his pickup. Without another thought, he told his phone to call Porter as they neared Millie’s home. Ringing echoed through the speakers of his cab.
Porter answered after two rings. “Hey, Nash. What’s up? You’re not running away from another angry brother for leading on his sister, are you?”
Uh oh!
Nash’s eyes swept over Emily. Her forehead wrinkled as she shook her head in amusement and looked away. Her brother most definitely would be the most likely culprit in that scenario. “You’re on speaker,” Nash tried to cut off anything else embarrassing that his twin might say. “Emily’s here. Don’t be a crazy person.”
“Sorry.” Porter didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll ask how your acne is clearing up later.”
Emily leaned over Nash to get closer to his phone. “Hi, Porter, I was wondering…” Her nose wrinkled and she sneezed. Her allergies were getting worse.
“Bless you,” both brothers automatically called out.
“I was wondering…” She cut herself off by sneezing again.
Nash couldn’t help it. He winked at her. “She’s allergic to hot men.”
She squeezed his shoulder in response, like it was some kind of punishment. It certainly wasn’t. For a moment, he was tempted to hang up on his brother, so he could finish what she started.
Porter interrupted his thoughts. “Emily!” he said. “Why are you hanging out with that jerk?”
She laughed. “He picked me up on the way to Millie’s ranch, and there was nothing I could do, except come along. It just kinda happened.”
“Huh, yeah, I might’ve heard something about that,” Porter sounded amused, “from the aunts at Harvest Ranch. They won’t stop talking about you two.”
Emily groaned.
Nash hooked his arm around her shoulders to console her as he parked. The aunts were anyone above the age of fifty who enjoyed a good spin on the lives of anyone who made the mistake of doing anything interesting worth commenting on. Their gossip was definitely worse than anything that they’d find online.
Nash was desperate to change the subject. “How’s Mom?”
