Getting Lucky (A Nugget Romance Book 5) Read online

  “Katie’s fever is gone,” Tawny said. “But I’m still planning to call Dr. Laurence. Hopefully he’ll have some news.”

  “You think they’ll let her go home today?”

  “That would be my guess.” She took his arm. “Thank you for being here, Lucky.”

  And there she went again, treating him like she would a concerned and helpful neighbor. It pissed Lucky off, but he decided to let it slide. Eventually she’d get it through her thick head that he planned to be a full-fledged father to Katie.

  In the cafeteria, Lucky loaded his tray with scrambled eggs, bacon, and potatoes. Tawny got a yogurt and some fruit. When they got to the cash register, she went to pay and Lucky pushed her wallet away.

  “You ever think this could be the reason why you’re still single?” It was a mean thing to say and Lucky wished he had bitten his tongue.

  But Tawny laughed, seemingly unperturbed. “You ever think that attitude is why you only date buckle bimbos and brainless Barbie dolls?” Then her face turned red. “I didn’t mean Raylene.”

  But they both knew she did.

  “I’ve dated a lot of educated women,” he said. Well, at least a few. “And guess what? They would’ve let me pay for their five-dollar breakfast.”

  “I’m not your date,” Tawny said, finding them a table at the back of the room.

  “Why not?”

  “Because you have a girlfriend.” She peered at him, challenge in her eyes.

  “What if I didn’t? Would you date a guy like me?”

  “Probably not,” she said. “Guys like you are heartbreak waiting to happen.”

  “That’s a crock.” He was genuinely offended. “I’m steady. Look at my track record. I’ve loved the same woman since before I could shave.” Tawny had been the one to make him question what he’d once thought were unshakable feelings for Raylene.

  “Why do you care?” she asked. “Like you said, you’ve got the woman you’ve always wanted.”

  That was the problem. Perhaps all this time he’d wanted the wrong woman. “Just curious about the kind of guys you’re into.”

  “I don’t have a particular type,” Tawny lied. Her type was Lucky, but she didn’t need to inflate his already fat self-image. He had arm-candy Raylene for that.

  “Just not my type.” He sounded ticked off, like it was a major shock for him to find out that there were women out there who didn’t want to throw themselves at him. “If I wasn’t hooked up with Raylene and you weren’t such a hard-ass, you might be my type.”

  “You hardly know me.” Even though she knew everything about him.

  “I’ve known you my whole life, Tawny. We went to grade school together, remember?”

  “You didn’t know me. You knew of me. There’s a difference. The night we were together, you hadn’t even realized that I’d dropped out of high school. That’s how invisible I was to you.”

  “You’re not invisible to me now.”

  Of course she wasn’t, she was the mother of their child. Their very sick child. “We should get back to Katie’s room.”

  They bussed their own table and left the cafeteria. When they got to Katie’s room, the doctor was waiting for them.

  “Miss Katie here is being cleared for takeoff,” he told them. “I talked to Dr. Laurence. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any news for you yet, but he wants you to keep Katie home, preferably in bed, and out of school for the next couple of days while we monitor the fever.”

  Tawny did as the doctor asked and got Katie tucked in as soon as they arrived home. Lucky went to his ranch to feed his stock and check on the progress of the construction, which was scheduled to resume today, with the assurance that he’d be back later to check on Katie. Tawny went into the kitchen to make some tea when she heard a faint knock on the door. Brady stood outside, holding a sack.

  “Hi,” she said, letting him in.

  “I don’t mean to intrude, but I heard you, Katie, and Lucky spent the night in the hospital.”

  Tawny let out an audible sigh. “She had a high fever, so they admitted her. But it’s gone today. She’s in bed now, resting.” She looked at the foil package peeking out of his bag. “What do you have there?” Whatever it was, it smelled fantastic.

  “Fresh bread, just out of the oven. And some peach jam I canned over the summer.”

  “Seriously.” She sniffed the bag and tugged on his arm. “Let’s go to the kitchen.”

  Tawny put the kettle on the stove to boil, pulled out two mugs, some plates and knives, and set them on the table. Then she unwrapped the bread, letting the yeasty aroma fill her nose.

  “I can’t believe you made this,” she said, and held up the jar of jam to the light. “And this.”

  “Yeah. I don’t make kick-ass cowboy boots, though.”

  “I’m making you a pair,” she said, and cut a piece of the bread, smeared it with jam, and chewed. She closed her eyes for a second. “This is so good. What should I put on them? The boots.”

  That’s when one of the many intricate and colorful tattoos on his forearms caught her attention. It was a knife and fork artfully crossed into an X. “That right there.” She pointed. “That’s what I’ll put on them.”

  Brady looked down at his arm. “That’ll work. But a loaf of bread and jam doesn’t seem like a fair trade.”

  Tawny held up a hunk of the homemade bread. “Have you tasted this?”

  Brady’s lips slid up into a smile. “It’s good stuff.”

  “Yeah, it is. Sorry, I’m being a pig. You want some?”

  “Nope. Have at it.” Brady pulled out two chairs, and they sat. “No word yet on the transplant?”

  Katie shook her head. “We’re still waiting.” It seemed like so much had happened since she and Lucky had gone to Palo Alto two days ago.

  “Lucky doing okay?”

  “Considering someone was killed on his property . . . and Katie . . . he’s been a rock.”

  “And his girlfriend’s dad.” Brady shook his head. “Man, that must suck.”

  “What are you talking about?” What about Raylene’s dad?

  “You didn’t hear? Ray Rosser was arrested for the shooting. According to Owen, the dead guy stole Ray’s cattle, so Ray shot him. We didn’t even do shit like that in South Carolina.”

  “I can’t believe it’s the first I’m hearing of this.” Maybe Lucky didn’t know yet. Although Raylene had to be flipping out. Her father was an abusive bully, but the Rosser name was like gold in this part of the Sierra. Having him face a murder charge had to be a huge black eye on the whole family, especially someone like hoity-toity Raylene.

  “Owen’s info can be pretty sketchy, so I wouldn’t take it to the bank. But from what I understand, someone definitely got arrested. You were probably at the hospital when it happened.”

  Oh jeez, she had to call Lucky. “Raylene’s probably a mess.”

  Brady shrugged. “I’d imagine she would be. Given that Lucky called the guy out, I’m assuming that he and Ray Rosser are not close.”

  “Nope,” she said, not wanting to go into the details. Hopefully, for Katie’s sake, that story would never surface. “But he’ll be upset for Raylene.” That was the thing about Lucky. He was loyal to a fault.

  “I know you said there is nothing between you two, but are you sure about that?”

  “You mean because he’s here all the time? That’s just for Katie.”

  “That’s not why. He came into the inn yesterday and I got the distinct impression that he was trying to figure out where you and I stand—romantically. And honestly, he seemed jealous.”

  Tawny felt her face heat with embarrassment. “I don’t know where he got that.” She did, though. Raylene.

  “Raylene told him,” Brady said. “She walked in on us talking that one day. I think we might’ve been flirting.”

  He smiled at her, and if she wasn’t so hung up on Lucky she might’ve fallen for Brady right then and there. Ironic how she’d judged Lucky for ho
lding a torch all these years for Raylene when she’d done the same thing with Lucky.

  “You have a thing for him, don’t you?” Brady asked,

  “Who, me? No . . . of course not . . . Is it that obvious?”

  “Probably just to me.” And then, doing a dead-on Clint Eastwood impression, he said, “I know things about people.”

  She laughed. “Lucky is with Raylene. He’s loved her forever.”

  “Maybe.” Brady lifted his shoulders. “But I’m not feeling it.”

  Brady didn’t know Lucky like she did. “Believe me, he’s addicted to her. And I need to give him a heads-up about Ray.”

  Brady got to his feet. “I have to take off anyway. We’ve got a full house at the inn and I’ve got a wine and cheese service to prepare.”

  “Hey, Brady, are you ever planning to tell me your secret? I told you mine.”

  His eyes turned downcast, and Tawny wished she hadn’t brought it up. “Someday soon,” he said.

  “Come over tomorrow and let me trace your feet.”

  His expression went from sad to confused. “Is that what passes for sexy time in Nugget?”

  “For the boots,” she said.

  “Hell yeah. I’m not passing that up. I’ll bring lunch.”

  “Excellent.”

  As soon as he left, Tawny checked in on her daughter, grabbed the phone, and dialed Lucky. “Hi. Where are you?”

  “Home.” She could hear a sheep bleating in the background. “Is Katie okay?”

  “She’s fine. But I just heard Ray Rosser was arrested for the shooting.”

  “I know,” he said. “Raylene says it was self-defense. Gus was stealing his cattle.”

  “Is Raylene okay?”

  “She and her mother got him a good lawyer. Raylene thinks he’s getting out of jail.”

  “I’m sorry for her. Don’t worry about Katie. Do what you need to do.” Take care of Raylene, she thought, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

  “What I need to do is check in on my daughter,” Lucky said, sounding surly.

  Whatever. Tawny was just trying to be understanding. “Suit yourself.”

  “I plan on it.”

  When they got off the phone, Tawny heated Katie a bowl of soup in the microwave and cut her a slice of Brady’s homemade bread. Just what the doctor ordered. Why couldn’t the chef have been Tawny’s antidote too? He was nice, sexy, and available. And damn, could the man cook.

  “How’s Katie?” Raylene came up behind Lucky as he threw a flake of hay to Bernice.

  “Better.” He turned and stood there for a while, just taking her in, wondering how feelings he’d held for so long could wither so abruptly. Maybe it hadn’t been abrupt. Maybe it had been a long time in coming. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today. I figured you’d want to be with your mom. Is Ray getting out?”

  “He’s home,” she said. “A lot of drama, huh?”

  Lucky would call it more than drama. The man was looking at a murder charge—twenty-five years to life. “It’s a good thing you came.” God, it killed him to have to do this. But it was the right thing to do. The only thing. “I thought we could talk.”

  “If it’s about what I said last night . . . about Tawny taking Katie to the hospital, I’m sorry.”

  “Sometimes you can be real self-centered, Raylene.” He didn’t have any more excuses for her.

  She shrugged, shamefaced. “I know.”

  “Let’s go in the trailer.” Lucky rubbed his hands together. “It’s cold out here.”

  “Okay. I don’t have a lot of time. Butch is coming. Daddy sent for him. He has it in his head that a family crisis will put me and Butch back together.”

  Butch. Lucky tried to summon some kind of emotion. Anger, jealousy, disappointment. All he felt was a slight hollowness, which he couldn’t quite identify.

  “Don’t be mad, Lucky. I’m just playing along for Daddy’s sake.”

  He put his hand at the small of her back and they walked the short distance to Lucky’s single-wide. Inside, he flipped on the heat and Raylene started taking off her clothes.

  “What are you doing?” Lucky said.

  Either she was in complete denial about his intentions or her cluelessness was an act, because she wound her arms around his neck and began kissing and rubbing on him. Perhaps she thought she could seduce him into loving her again.

  “I want you,” she said in a breathy voice he’d once found sexy.

  He pushed her off him. “We need to talk.”

  “We can talk after.” She started unbuttoning his jeans and slipped her hand inside his shorts.

  Disgusted, he pulled her hand out of his pants. “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

  She stared at his flaccid penis and said, “You appear to be the one with the problem.”

  “Raylene”—he rebuttoned his fly—“I said I wanted to talk, not have sex.”

  He rested his forehead against the wall. This woman, whom he’d loved forever . . . and now all he could do was think of someone else. It made him a little sick. “I can’t be with you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He didn’t know how to say the words without hurting her. “Us. We can’t be together.”

  “Of course we can. Oh, for heaven’s sake, Lucky, is this about Butch?”

  That was the thing. It should’ve been about Butch, and Raylene’s obvious reluctance to let her ex go. But it wasn’t. It was about Tawny.

  “No. We’re just not working. You’re getting over a bad marriage and I have a sick daughter—”

  “Basically, you’re mad at me for what I said last night—and now because of Butch. Grow up, Lucky.”

  Damn straight he was angry over her careless attitude about his daughter. About her selfishness. Her pettiness. All the faults he thought she’d grow out of once she got away from Ray, but hadn’t. “Raylene, don’t interrupt—”

  “Are you breaking up with me? Just spit it out.”

  “Yes.” He didn’t know any other way to soften the blow because even now he felt protective of her. Old habits . . .

  “You’re not breaking up with me,” Raylene said like she was bored. “You’re pissed about Butch. You’ll get over it.” She started for the door and Lucky grabbed her by the arm.

  “Raylene, we’re over.”

  She just rolled her eyes and walked away.

  Good to his word, Lucky showed up a few hours later. Tawny could tell from Lucky’s damp hair—he must’ve left his hat in the truck—that he’d recently showered. Besides newish jeans and a shiny pair of black cowboy boots, he’d put on cologne. Something spicy that made her mouth water. She wondered if he was going out later.

  “How’s she doing?” he asked, giving her a quick once-over.

  Still in the same jeans and sweater she’d thrown on after getting home from the hospital, Tawny wished she’d changed into something nicer. “Good. She ate lunch, so at least she’s got a bit of an appetite. She’s sleeping now.”

  Lucky made his way through the living room to her bedroom, quietly opened the door, and popped his head in. Just as quietly he shut it, motioning to Tawny that they should go to the kitchen.

  “You okay?” she asked him.

  “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Ray’s arrest must have you shaken up.”

  “Not really. I couldn’t care less if they locked him up and threw away the key. What’s shaking me up is that Gus was stealing cattle, and I’d be willing to bet that the rest of my so-called construction crew were in on it. I’d like to fire every last one of them.”

  “Why don’t you then?”

  He huffed out a breath, clasped her shoulders, and backed her up against the counter, where they stood not even an inch apart. God, he felt good, his chest rock solid, and arms that felt strong enough to take on anything. And for the zillionth time she remembered what it had been like to be under all that strength while he moved over her. Inside of her.

&
nbsp; “I’m not supposed to tell anyone,” he said, his voice nearly a whisper. “But Jake and Rhys suspect these guys of more than cattle rustling.”

  “Like what?” she asked, having trouble focusing on the subject matter. All she wanted him to do was kiss her.

  He pushed away from the counter and she instantly felt bereft of his body heat. Like she’d lost something enormously comforting.

  “You have to promise to keep this quiet. The cops think they’re dealing drugs, using my project as a front. They want to catch them in the act by going undercover. I swear, Tawny, if you let this leak, it’ll screw the investigation. As it is, Ray probably ruined it. But I gave Jake my word that I wouldn’t fire anyone until they rounded up the bad players.”

  “I won’t tell anyone. But aren’t you worried about the danger?”

  “Not to me. But I sure as hell don’t want you or Katie setting foot on the ranch until this is cleared up.”

  Tawny swallowed. “You should stay with your mom until this is over.”

  “That would look suspicious, don’t you think? Not to mention that I want to keep my eye on the place. And I want these jokers off my property as soon as possible. The valuable lesson in all this is never hire cheap. I should’ve gone with Pat Donnelly and Colin. Man, am I kicking myself.”

  “When will the police be done?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Jake is keeping me in the dark. And the shooting is bound to put these guys on guard. I wish I’d never made the deal with Nugget PD, but at the same time I want the message out that you can’t get away with this crap in my town. Damn, Tawny, my people and business are here.”

  “What about Ray?”

  “According to Raylene, he’s home until the DA files charges.”

  “Is she okay?” To Tawny’s surprise, Lucky merely shrugged, like he didn’t really care.

  “Butch is coming to be with the family,” he said.

  That explained to Tawny Lucky’s show of apathy. “That bother you?”

  “It should,” he said. “But it doesn’t. How messed up is that?”