Feels Like Home. Vicki Thompson Lewis

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      This dithering had made her late, though. She’d heard Olivia and Wyatt arrive at least twenty minutes ago and the sound of laughter and the clink of glasses from downstairs told her that drinks were being served in the living room. In late August the weather was nippy enough for a fire in the evenings and she could smell cedar smoke. All the Chance family would gather tonight because welcoming Wyatt’s twin, who was also Jack’s half brother, was a big deal.

      Rafe would be down there trying to keep everyone in the family straight in his mind. Meg felt a little sorry for him having to deal with it after a day of traveling. And he didn’t fit into this ranch crowd at all, which wouldn’t help.

      Meg felt totally comfortable here and had a good memory for names and faces. Even so, she always mentally reviewed the players before jumping into a large gathering. Jack, the oldest Chance son, was married to Josie, who owned the local tavern Spirits and Spurs. Their baby son was named Archie after his great-grandfather.

      Next oldest was Nick, a large-animal vet who’d married Dominique, a talented photographer. They were plowing through the paperwork to adopt Lester, a thirteen-year-old boy in foster care who’d been part of a work program for disadvantaged youth held at the ranch for the first time this summer. Nick and Dominique, along with everyone at the ranch, had fallen in love with Lester and had decided they’d be more than happy to start their family with him.

      The youngest son, Gabe, was married to Morgan, a redhead. Meg and Morgan had bonded over the joys and problems of having red hair. Morgan and Gabe’s little toddler, Sarah Bianca, had inherited the red hair, so Meg felt right at home with those two.

      The sixtysomething ranch foreman, Emmett Sterling, would probably be at the gathering because he’d worked at the ranch for years and was considered part of the family. He actually might become part of the family if he and Pam Mulholland, who ran a nearby bed-and-breakfast, ever got married. Pam was Nick Chance’s aunt, and she’d be there, too.

      Sarah Chance, the matriarch of the group, had finally found a new love after the untimely death of her husband several years ago. Peter Beckett, her fiancé, would be in attendance. A philanthropist, he’d funded the ranch’s summer program for young teens.

      It was a lot to take in and, unlike Wyatt, Rafe didn’t seem eager to embrace the Chance family. That would throw extra tension into a situation already filled with drama.

      Meg liked and admired the Chance family, but her personal obligation was to Olivia and Olivia’s sweetheart, Wyatt. By extension, Meg felt some loyalty to Rafe, and he’d have a much easier time of it if he’d get that burr out from under his saddle, as they said out here in the West.

      “Meg?” Olivia’s voice floated down the hall. “I’ve been sent up to check on you.”

      “I’m in here.” Meg shook her head and made the silver-and-turquoise earrings dance. They went well with the black dress she’d settled on, the simple little black dress that every woman was supposed to have hanging in her closet. Knowing her limitations in the fashion department, Meg had clung to that advice.

      Olivia, looking radiant in a dark green dress, appeared in the doorway of what was still referred to as “Roni’s room.” The Chances had taken Roni in when she was a runaway teen. Now she worked as a mechanic on the NASCAR circuit and had married a guy on her racing team.

      The decor hadn’t been updated since the days when Roni had been obsessed with NASCAR. But it was the only upstairs bedroom with an attached bath, so it was usually assigned to any single female guest. Meg qualified and was grateful for the privacy.

      “Oh, Meg, those earrings are spectacular with that dress.” Olivia beamed at her.

      “And you look terrific, as always.” Meg glanced lovingly at her friend. Olivia constantly experimented with her hair, and recently she’d colored it in various shades of red and blonde. For tonight’s event she’d created an arrangement of upswept curls and dangling ringlets that inspired Meg’s awe.

      “Thank you.” Olivia smiled. “Being crazy in love helps.”

      “I don’t have that going for me, unfortunately. I wish I’d asked you to come early and do my hair. It just sits there, a curly red blob.”

      “Is that what’s keeping you?” Olivia crossed to the dressing table, picked up a tube of gel and squeezed some into her palm. “I can fix that in a jiffy.”

      “The hair, the dress, the makeup, the jewelry. I’ve been a mass of writhing indecision.” Meg’s anxiety level dropped significantly as Olivia massaged hair gel into her misbehaving curls.

      “Sounds serious.” Olivia finished with the gel and picked up a brush and a hair dryer. “You’re usually the calmest one of the bunch.”

      “I think it’s having Rafe here.”

      “He does change the dynamics.” She turned the dryer on low and began to work. “He’s a different kind of guy and he doesn’t quite fit in at the moment, but I’m counting on the fact he’s Wyatt’s twin. He’ll be fine. It’ll all work out.”

      “I hope so. He seems sort of …” Meg hesitated to label him and risk offending his future sister-in-law.

      “So you’ve met him?”

      “I introduced myself this afternoon. He thinks I tried to run him down while I was on Spilled Milk.”

      Olivia met Meg’s gaze in the mirror and laughed. “So did you?”

      “No! Of course not!”

      “Just wondering, because speaking for myself, I have the strongest urge to mess with him.”

      Meg grinned, relieved she could be honest. “Livy, he’s ridiculously uptight. He told me he has ‘no interest’ in participating in the activities of the ranch. Won’t dress in jeans and boots until forced to. Plans to spend the week checking in to work on his iPad. How crazy is that?”

      Olivia nodded. “That’s what he said just now, too. He seems to be holding the ranch and the Chance family at arm’s length. Poor Wyatt doesn’t know what to do.”

      “Well, that sucks. For Wyatt and you, but for Rafe, too. He has no idea what he’s missing. It’s a crime to come to this beautiful ranch and stay cooped up with an iPad.”

      “I agree.” Olivia used the brush and hair dryer to arrange Meg’s hair in soft, layered curls that framed her face. “There, how’s that?”

      “Incredible.” Meg turned her head to view the results. The earrings swung rhythmically as she moved. “Now I feel gorgeous enough to take on Rafe Locke.”

      Olivia smiled. “And do what with him?”

      “You know, I think, deep down, he might want to loosen up, but he’s afraid to. He needs some help.”

      “Well, if anyone can help him overcome those fears, it’s you.” Olivia stood back. “Go get him, girl.”

      RAFE WAS HOLDING UP, but just barely. The shock of seeing his doppelganger—Jack Chance—walk into the room had largely worn off, but keeping the names and faces of the Chance clan sorted out had taken its toll. Fortunately no one had asked him the million-dollar question—whether СКАЧАТЬ