“I’d love a beer,” Mary Lou said. “Move aside, Alex, and I’ll see that we all get something cold to drink and happy-hour munchies. Sarah, I know you’ll join me in a Friday-afternoon beer. Tyler, what will you have?”
“The same, thanks.” Maybe a cold beer would settle her nerves. She’d expected she might see Alex while she was here, considering that he was Josie’s brother and part of the extended Chance family. But she hadn’t planned on running into him first thing out of the gate and immediately having to deal with her emotional reaction.
“Root beer for me, please,” Morgan said.
“I know, honey,” Mary Lou said. “I have it right here.” She opened the refrigerator and began passing out bottles.
Sarah quietly removed the box from the table and tucked it out of sight before swinging into hostess mode. “Everybody have a seat. I’ll get us some chips and dip. The rest of the gang will probably show up pretty soon, and if I know my boys, they’ll be ready to toast the beginning of the weekend with a cold one.”
Tyler chose a seat at the opposite side of the table from where Alex stood. She couldn’t help sneaking glances at him, and every time she did, he was looking back. Not the usual behavior of a man who had a girlfriend.
He could still be unattached, and if so, she’d have to be very careful. As if her memories of his lovemaking weren’t enough to make her heart race, he’d turned into every woman’s fantasy—a broad-shouldered, lean-hipped, yummy cowboy. She wondered if he’d bought himself a Stetson.
In no time Mary Lou and Sarah had the impromptu party organized with drinks all around. Bowls of chips and several kinds of dip sat on the table along with a stack of napkins.
Sarah took a chair and raised her beer bottle. “Here’s to your world cruise, Tyler, and the important promotion I’m sure will follow.”
“Thank you.” Tyler began to understand why Morgan loved being a part of this stable, loving family. Morgan, Tyler and their six siblings had lived a vagabond lifestyle, traveling the country in a psychedelic van with their New Age parents.
They’d spent a few months in Shoshone back when Morgan and Tyler were teenagers. For Tyler, it had just been one stop in their constant travels, but Morgan had loved it and had vowed to come back. Although Tyler had inherited her parents’ wanderlust, Morgan had yearned for roots, and now she had them. Her baby would represent the fourth generation of Chances living on this ranch.
“I guess that means you can’t be here when the baby’s born,” Mary Lou said.
“Exactly, which is why I came now. When that little tyke arrives, I’ll be somewhere in the Mediterranean. On the way here from the airport I tried to talk Morgan into setting up Skype in the delivery room, but she wasn’t buying it.”
Morgan made a face. “Sorry, but I have this image of the entire crew of the Sea Goddess gathered around your computer watching me give birth. I’m even thinking of having the baby at the ranch, to keep the moment more private and special.”
“You thought I’d invite people to see the birth on my laptop?”
“Well, maybe not, but—”
“Shoot, I’d put it up on the big screen in the movie theater!” As Morgan’s eyes widened, Tyler nudged her in the ribs. “Gotcha.”
“No, you didn’t. I knew you were kidding.”
“Did not. You should have seen your face. Are you really thinking of having a home birth?”
Morgan glanced at Sarah. “I’d like to.”
“And Gabe and I are trying to talk her out of it,” Sarah said. “Maybe if we were five minutes from the hospital, I wouldn’t worry, but if something goes wrong, it’s a long trek into Jackson.”
“Nothing will go wrong,” Morgan said. “My mom had all of us in the back of the family van.”
“Yes, but dad said he always parked it next to the hospital.” Tyler was inclined to agree with Gabe and Sarah on this one. She looked across the table to where Alex sat peeling the label off his beer bottle. Maybe he wasn’t all that comfy discussing the birthing process.
Giving birth wasn’t her top priority, either, but she found herself longing to hear him talk. During the reception last summer his voice had seduced her long before she’d suggested they share a bottle of champagne in the hayloft. “Ever seen a baby being born, Alex?”
He stopped peeling the label and looked at her with his intense gray eyes. “Can’t say that I have. How about you?”
That voice, honed by years of radio work, gave her goose bumps. “Yes, and it’s an awesome experience, so I was hoping for a Skype’s-eye view of my big sister’s event.” She was still curious about why he was at the ranch this afternoon. He seemed completely at home, as if he lived here, and yet she was sure he’d planned to rent a place in Jackson once he started his job there.
“So how are things at the radio station?” she asked.
“Oh, he left that job, Tyler,” Morgan said. “He’s the marketing director for the Last Chance now, and he lives out here.”
Tyler could have used that information earlier, before she’d walked into the kitchen and been struck dumb by the incredible backside of Alex Keller. But Morgan would have no reason to tell her. Morgan didn’t know about the night in the hayloft.
Alex leaned forward. “And speaking of my job, I’ve run into a couple of snags for tomorrow’s event.”
“What event?” Tyler had a feeling that Morgan had neglected to mention several important items during the drive from the Jackson airport. Tyler couldn’t blame her, though. Morgan had spent the drive talking about her plans for the baby’s room, assuming it was completed in time for Morgan to add the decorating touches she had in mind.
“I’ve set up an open house,” Alex said. “I’ve had to operate under some tight time constraints, but I wanted to catch people at the beginning of the summer with the idea that if it goes well, we can do it again in August.”
“It will go well,” Sarah said. “We’ve invited everybody who might be a candidate for buying one of the Last Chance paints, and we should have a good turnout because June is when the summer tourist season gets rolling. We’ll have tours of the barn, cutting-horse demonstrations, plenty of food—”
“Sounds great,” Tyler said. “I’m not a prospective buyer, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy all that, if I’m invited, that is.”
Morgan touched her arm. “Of course you’re invited! You’re family!”
“Thanks.” Tyler was surprised by how pleased she was to hear that. She loved her carefree life and didn’t mind that home was a sparsely furnished efficiency apartment in L.A. with no live plants and a refrigerator that was usually empty. But she wouldn’t mind borrowing the nurturing environment of the Last Chance for the next few days, providing she could control her urge to snuggle up with Alex.
Her fantasy man leaned back in his chair. “The thing is, I’d hoped to establish the mood with live music, but the country band I’d hired just canceled a half hour ago.”
“What about Watkins?” Mary Lou set down her beer. “That cowhand plays a decent guitar if you could talk him into doing it.”
“It’s a thought, but that’s not the only issue. I also ordered three event canopies because we’re supposed to have some rain, but only one showed up. I’m a little worried that—”
“Say no more.” Tyler leaped into the breach automatically, a learned response from handling this kind of crisis all the time on cruises.