Proposal at the Lazy S Ranch. Patricia Thayer

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      From the moment when he noticed Josie Slater in Royerton High School and saw her big blue eyes, he’d been a goner. They’d been a couple all through school, even after he graduated and went off to college. Josie finished high school and went to college locally two years later. Then one weekend he’d come home to tell her about his apprenticeship. They had a big fight about him being gone all summer, and they broke up. Josie refused to talk to him for months. Then he met Natalie....

      Now all these years later, Josie was back here. Seeing her today had been harder than he could imagine. But her reaction toward him was a little hard to take. He didn’t have to worry about her having any leftover feelings for him.

      Garrett stood outside of the cubicle and the curtain was drawn as the doctor examined Josie.

      “So, Ms. Slater,” the doctor began, “you’re getting a nasty bruise on your forehead.” There was silence for a moment, and the middle-aged man continued, “You’re lucky. It doesn’t seem you have a concussion.”

      Grateful, Garrett sagged against the wall, knowing he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but he still listened for more information.

      “I want you to take it easy today,” the doctor told her. “Your ankle is swollen, but the X-ray didn’t show any broken bones. But you’ll need to put ice on it.” He paused. “Do you take any medications?”

      Garrett heard Josie rattle off a few. He recognized one was for anxiety and the other for sleeping. What was wrong with her?

      The doctor came out from behind the curtain. “She’ll be fine, although she’ll have some bruises.”

      “Thank you, Doctor.”

      He nodded. “Just make sure she rests today and have her stay off her feet.”

      “I will.”

      The doctor walked away, and Garrett called, “You decent?”

      “Yes,” she grumbled.

      He went behind the curtain and found her sitting on the bed, not looking happy. “I got a clean bill of health, so can we go home?”

      He nodded, suddenly wishing she was home. But he had a feeling that Josie was headed back to California real soon, and he’d lose her for the second time.

      * * *

      It was another forty minutes before Garrett pulled up in front of the Slater home. Josie’s pulse started racing once again as she looked up at the big two-story brown house with the white trim. It was a little faded and the porch needed some work. So a lot of things around the ranch hadn’t been cared for in a while.

      Garrett got out of the truck and walked around to her side. He pulled the crutches out of the back, but propped them against the side of the truck as he reached in and scooped her into his arms. Instead of setting her down on the ground, he carried her toward the house.

      “Hey, I can do this myself.”

      “It’s crazy to struggle with these steps when I can get you in the house faster.”

      She wasn’t going to waste the effort to argue. Soon she’d be inside and he’d be gone.

      Garrett paused at the heavy oak door with the cut-glass oval window. She drew a quiet breath and released it. It was bad enough that the man she’d once loved was carrying her around in his arms, but she still had to face the other man in her life. Her father.

      “You okay?” Garrett asked.

      “Yeah, I’m just peachy.”

      He stared at her, but didn’t say a word. Wise man. He managed to turn the knob and open the door.

      Inside, she glanced around. This had been part of the house she hadn’t seen much as a child. Everyone used the back door off the kitchen. This was the formal part of the house.

      Nothing much had changed over the years, she noted, as Garrett carried her across glossy honey-colored hardwood floors and past the sweeping staircase that led upstairs. He continued down the hall where the living room was closed off by large oak pocket doors. She tensed. Her father’s new living quarters since coming home from the hospital.

      They finally reached Colt’s office. “She’s home,” Garrett announced as he carried her inside.

      Ana Slater glanced up from the computer screen and froze. Her older sister was tall and slender with nearly black hair and blue eyes.

      “Josie! Oh, God, what happened?”

      “I had a little collision at the construction site.”

      Garrett set her down in the high-back chair across from the desk. “She’d gotten in the path of a truckload of lumber,” he told her. “I pushed her out of the way. She landed funny.”

      “You mean, you landed on me.”

      Ana glanced back and forth between the two. “When you called me, you said nothing about being injured.” She looked concerned. “But you’re all right?”

      “Yes!”

      “No!” Garrett said. “The doctor wants her to rest.”

      “I need to stay off my ankle, but I have crutches to help get around.”

      “I’ll go get them,” Garrett said, and walked out of the room.

      Josie turned to her big sister. “So when were you going to tell me that Garrett Temple was building the lodge? Or was it going to remain a secret?”

      Ana tried to look innocent and failed. “Okay, how was I supposed to tell you?”

      “By telling me the truth.”

      Josie glanced around the dark paneled room that had been Colt’s sanctuary. They’d never been allowed in here, but that didn’t seem to bother Ana these days. By the looks of it she’d taken over.

      “I’m sorry, Josie. I thought since you said you weren’t coming home, I didn’t need to say anything.”

      Josie had trouble hiding her anger. “There have to be other contractors here in town you could have used.”

      “First of all, Garrett gave us the lowest bid, and some of our own ranch hands are working on the crew. Secondly, he’s moved back here and now lives at the Temple Ranch to help out his father.”

      Josie closed her eyes. It was enough having to deal with her father but now, Garrett. “Then I’m going back to L.A.”

      “Josie, please. I need you to stay, at least for a little while. We can make it so that you and Garrett don’t have any contact.” She hesitated, then said, “And Colt, he definitely wants you here. He was so happy when I told him you came home.”

      Her father wanted her here? That didn’t sound like the cold, distant man who’d raised her.

      “We all need you here, sis.” Ana continued her pitch. “I can’t СКАЧАТЬ