She laughed and the sound flowed over him, almost made him smile. “I’m not surprised.”
She did get a to-go box and he paid the bill, after she insisted on leaving the tip. They walked through the Montana sunshine to his truck. She made him feel—lighter. She hadn’t once referred to his history as a country star. He allowed so few new people into his world it was always a surprise when that happened, because so many over the years had wanted something from him. Or they hadn’t wanted him—they’d wanted the country star.
So while it was refreshing to be with someone who didn’t have demands or expectations, it was dangerous, too. He didn’t want to let down his guard only to learn he’d trusted the wrong person. Again.
Two days later, Josie couldn’t get the trip they’d made to town out of her mind. Or how easy it had been to be with Luke. When he let down the gruff exterior, he was a charming, funny man. Between the laugh lines around those incredible blue eyes and the small dimple in his cheek—
Sexy.
She shook her head to clear the unwelcome thought. She wasn’t even going to go there.
“You up for a little walk?”
Josie started and looked up at Alice, who was standing there with a smile. A little thread of embarrassment ran through her. Thank goodness the other woman couldn’t read her thoughts.
“Sure. Where to?” She wanted to ask if it was okay for Alice to do that, but she didn’t know the other woman well enough to do so.
As if she’d read Josie’s mind, Alice smiled a little wider. “It’s okay. We’re just going to my house, which is the one down the lane a little way. It’s a nice, even path. I need a couple of things. If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all.” She followed Alice out the back door, Hank on her heels. She turned to shoo him back in, but Alice shook her head.
“Let him come. He’ll be fine, even if he wanders off.”
“Okay.” Josie held the door for both Alice and the dog, and watched carefully as the older woman navigated the steps. Hank was very courteous as well, waiting for her to be on the ground before trotting after her and looking back at Josie as if to say, What are you waiting for? This late in the afternoon it was comfortably warm out, but not hot. She was still trying to adjust to this weather. Cold enough at night for a fire and a quilt, hot enough during the day for short sleeves. The house didn’t even have central air.
“Not long now,” Alice said cheerfully. “I go back to the doctor next week. Hoping to get the all clear. Then the boys won’t argue when I move back into my own house.”
Josie rather thought they’d check on her every hour, but she kept it to herself. Hank stopped to examine a bush, then raised his leg.
“I agreed to stay up here because otherwise they’d be checking in with me every ten minutes. Seemed easier to just be where they are. For all of us,” she said on a little laugh.
“That makes sense,” Josie said, because even after just a few days she could see how devoted these guys were to their mother. It was a refreshing change. Alice hadn’t been kidding—her house wasn’t far from the main house at all, but around a curve and behind a copse of trees that made it feel farther away than it was. As a bonus, it added to the privacy for all of them.
“Someday Cade and Jake will build their own houses,” Alice said. “For now, they all live in the big house since it’s a central location. And—well, and Luke remodeled that house thinking he’d have a big family. That didn’t happen. But they each have land on this same property.”
“That makes sense,” Josie said, caught for a moment on the fact Luke had wanted a big family. She wasn’t sure, but she thought his marriage had probably been over before the house had even been finished. But she wasn’t going to go there, not with his mother. So she asked the safe question. “How big is the ranch?”
“Almost three thousand acres,” Alice said. “Some of that is leased from the rancher to the north. He is dialing back his spread but isn’t ready to sell.”
Josie’s eyes bugged. “Three thousand acres?” She couldn’t even wrap her mind around that amount of land. True, she’d seen no other people or signs of people on her drive out here, but given the apparent propensity for half-hidden drives, it was likely she’d missed it. Not many, though. Three thousand acres was an awful lot of land.
Alice laughed. “Yes. It’s a big place.”
“Wow,” Josie said. “I had no idea.” She lived in a condo. With lots of other condos and other buildings. Nothing like this.
The wide front porch was one step up. She followed Alice in and was immediately charmed by the little log house. It had a lovely open floor plan, with the kitchen, dining and living area all open to each other. There was another stone fireplace and the fabrics on the couch and chairs were all soft. There were throws all over and another brightly patterned rug, similar to the one in the main house, was on the floor. The end tables were piled high with books. She could see a bed through one of the open doors at the other side of the room, and the bathroom through the other. The back wall of the main room had sliding glass doors, and Josie could see Alice had an incredible view of the mountains. She wasn’t sure there was a bad view anywhere on the Silver River.
If she could build a little house here, this was what it’d look like.
“I love this,” she said, and Alice smiled.
“Luke had it built for me. He’s very generous. Asked what I wanted. He was willing to go big, bless him, but this is all I need, since it’s just me now. It suits me to a T. I do miss the main house,” she said with a sigh. “But it was just way more than I needed. I really love my own space, though. So will you help me carry a couple things back?”
“Of course.” She helped Alice gather a few items and put them in a bag, which Josie carried. She’d been a little worried that Alice might try to push Luke on her, especially since he’d driven her to Kalispell and they’d been alone for a few hours, but she didn’t. Her feelings were decidedly mixed when it came to Luke. He put her off balance, which, for someone who had conceded control unwittingly, could develop into a major issue.
She put him out of her mind as she and Alice walked back to the main house. She’d find a way to deal with this. It wasn’t for all that long. It was perfectly okay for her to find him attractive. It meant Russ hadn’t damaged her beyond repair.
Alice went back to her room and Josie went back into the kitchen. She had dinner almost done, and the men would be back before too long. She put the finishing touches on the meal and got everything set to be served as they came in through the back door. She was getting pretty good on the timing. She didn’t know if it was just luck that had them all coming in around the same time or if this was a common occurrence. Each of the four nights she’d been at the Silver River, the men went back out after each meal until dark. Evening chores, they said. It seemed like a hard life, with long, incredible hours and hard work that never ended and a constant battle with the elements. She’d only been here a week and she had an incredible amount of respect for ranchers and those who chose this life, not to mention a newfound respect for Mother Nature.
She looked again out the long window above the kitchen sink. There were no window treatments and she could see why—the view didn’t need anything to enhance it. The sharp peaks, the rolling green pastures, the tiny black dots that she knew were cattle all caught her attention. It was both gorgeous and overwhelming.
* * *
“So,” Cade said with a smile as he set his dishes on the counter after dinner, “have you been to the barns yet?”
“No,” Josie said. She’d actually been