“Seems like your mom was a pretty great lady from what I’m told,” Brooks said. He’d heard from Beau, but just about everyone else on the ranch had nice things to say about Tanya, too.
“That she was,” Beau said, the pride in his voice unequalled.
“My brothers and I, well, we’re sorry to hear news of your mother’s passing, Brooks,” Malcolm said. The others nodded in agreement.
“Thank you. Mom was also quite a woman. And she died unexpectedly. My brothers and I miss her terribly.”
“It’s not easy,” Beau said, the brightness in his eyes dimming. “But we have each other now, and that’s something to celebrate. Shall we go in to dinner? Lupe promised us a feast, and we’re opening a few special bottles of wine to toast the occasion.”
“I’m nearly starved,” Toby said, patting his stomach.
“Yeah, me, too,” Clay said. “Oh, and new brother?”
Brooks gave him a glance. “Yeah?”
“I’m apologizing in advance for the interrogation. We’re all so dang curious about your life, I’m afraid we’re gonna grill you. We want to hear about Graham, too. Dad says he’s the spitting image of you.”
“Yep, there are two of us. We’re identical twins.”
“You boys will meet him soon,” Beau said as he ushered them all into the house. “I’m hoping Graham will be here by next week in time for our Christmas party.”
“I don’t mind your questions,” Brooks added. “I’ve got quite a few for you. We all have some catching up to do.”
In the formal dining room, on Beau’s cue, Clay, Malcolm and Toby spent the next few minutes asking about Brooks’s early life, his college days and how he came to build such a successful real estate development business. “Lots of hard work, long hours and a driving need to make my way in the world,” he answered. “Mom was a survivor, and she raised her children to be independent thinkers.”
Beau smiled, getting a faraway look in his eyes. Was he thinking about the young woman he’d loved and lost? Then, with a shake of the head, he shifted and turned his attention back to the conversation.
Lupe came in, carrying plates filled with twelve-ounce rib eye steaks, potatoes, creamed corn and Texas-sized biscuits. “Looks delicious, Lupe. Thank you,” Beau said.
Toby and Malcolm immediately rose to help her bring the rest of the food in from the kitchen. And just as they were sitting down, ready to take their first bite, Ruby walked in.
She didn’t immediately make eye contact with Brooks, so he looked his fill. Her jeans and blousy top were white, but her ankle boots were as black as the mass of long raven hair falling down her back. The contrast of black to white was striking, and he took a swallow of water to keep his mouth from going dry. “Hey, everyone,” she said.
“Better late than never, Rube,” Clay said, teasing. “Had another hot date with a horse?”
Toby and Malcolm chuckled.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said, smiling and scooting her fine little ass into her seat. “At least horses can take direction. Unlike most men I know.”
Beau choked out a laugh.
Ruby arched a brow and shot daggers at Clay. Apparently she wasn’t through with him yet. “And tell me again, who are you dating at the moment?”
“Oh, you’ve dug yourself a hole now, Clay,” Malcolm said. “You know better than to get into it with Ruby. You’re not gonna win.”
“You see,” she said, “Malcolm understands. At least he has a girlfriend.”
“This is a picture of what it was like when the kids were growing up,” Beau explained, grinning. “I gotta say, it’s still amusing.”
Ruby glanced at Brooks then, giving him a nod of acknowledgment. He smiled, acknowledging how Ruby held her own with Beau’s boys. She was a handful, a woman with spunk who took no prisoners and didn’t apologize for it. If only he could stop noticing all her admirable traits. As it was now, she was off the charts.
Wine was poured and Beau lifted his glass. Everyone at the table took his cue, and the deep red wine in the raised glasses glistened under chandelier light. “To my family,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier to have Brooks here. And soon Graham will join us. I love you all,” he said, his voice tight, “and look forward to the day we can all be together.”
Glasses clinked and Brooks was touched at the welcome he’d received by his new family at Look Away Ranch.
They settled into the meal. The steak was the most tender he’d ever had. Texans knew a thing or two about raising prime cattle and delivering a delicious meal. His brothers surely looked the picture of health—all three were sturdy men—and a sense of pride in his newfound family washed over him. He doubted he’d ever feel as close to these young men as he did Graham—he and Graham had shared too much together—but he hoped they’d all become the family Beau had longed for.
“Dad says our little sis taught you a thing or two about horse training,” Toby remarked. “What’d you think?”
Brooks hesitated a second, finishing a sip of wine while contemplating how to answer the innocent question. He couldn’t give too much away. He couldn’t say that Ruby was the most amazing woman he’d ever met, or that her talent and skill and patience had inspired him. That would be too telling, wouldn’t it? “What I know about horses, I’m afraid to say, can fit in this wineglass. But watching Ruby at work and hearing her thoughts on training gave me a whole new perspective. It’s eye-opening. It seems Ruby has just the right touch.”
Toby nodded. “She does. We’ve all had a hand in horse training growing up, and all of our techniques are different, but the honest truth is, when we’d come up against a stubborn one that gave us trouble, we turned to Ruby and she’d find a way. Now she pretty much runs the show.”
Brooks looked at Ruby, giving her a smile. “I see that she pretty much runs the show around here, too.”
Beau chuckled. “Didn’t take you long to figure that out.”
“There’s an advantage to being the only female in the family,” Malcolm said.
“I can speak for myself, Mal,” she chimed in. “There’s an advantage to being the only female in the family.”
Everyone laughed.
Ruby’s eyes twinkled, and in that moment, Brooks felt like one of them. A Preston, through and through.
* * *
The next morning, Beau suggested that they spend the day with Ruby. There was more she could teach Brooks, and if he really wanted to get a sense of how the operation was run, he needed to get his hands dirty.
“Ruby will put you in touch with your inner wrangler,” Beau joked.
Well, she’d already put him in touch with something: namely, rock-solid lust. The woman turned him inside out, and there was no help for it.
Before Brooks had even met Ruby, he’d asked for this training, and Beau was more than happy to accommodate his request. But now it meant that Brooks and Ruby would get to spend more time together at the Look Away. Yet Brooks wanted to learn. He needed to catch up on the history of the ranch and the day-to-day operation of running it. It would give him a chance to meet Beau and his half brothers on equal ground. He’d have more in common with each one of them if he could grasp at least a basic knowledge of horses, training and all that went with them.
So they’d walked over to one of the corrals and stood by the fence, watching Ruby securing a saddle on an unruly stallion.
The air was brisk this morning,