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  “Jerks.” Luke laughed, knowing they’d pushed his buttons and enjoyed watching him sweat bullets. “Get to work. We’re burning daylight.”

  “What’s the hurry? You got a date tonight?” Jess called, his chuckle moving wickedly over the breeze to blend with Colt’s.

  Luke hid his grin. Brothers.

  The days after her “set-up dinner” with Luke flew by for Montana. She practiced her riding during the day, and helped out with Tate when she was needed. The baby spent some days with her and some with his mom and dad. The plans for the rodeo seemed to be falling in place and the excitement was building. Everywhere she went, they were talking about all the different people who’d been past residents of the tiny town who were coming back. The list included Adela’s granddaughter Gabi. And Adela was very excited about that. Everyone knew that it was a long shot that any of the people would be able to actually move home. But like Norma Sue said, “Letting them come home to see the changes was a positive, and the attention they were drawing was always a good thing. Who knows, maybe some would find a way. And maybe some would fall in love.”

  Of course, she’d been looking right at Montana when she made that last statement. Montana’d been getting a lot of that over the last two weeks.

  Ever since Luke had shown up at her house, it had been on lots of minds. She wasn’t saying much, just shrugging it off with a snappy retort, finding that teasing about it was about as easy a way out as anything. And besides, she and Luke had an understanding. They both knew they weren’t looking for love, and that was all that mattered.

  The fact that she now found the cowboy very likable and extremely attractive was no big deal—really. It was as if knowing they were on the same page helped her relax around him. Not that they were going on any more dates, but when she saw him she was able to not be on the defensive.

  There was, however, the problem of Erica. The woman had issues. Montana had run into her a couple of times, and both times had been awkward, since Erica had ignored her when Montana had spoken. One of those times had been at church—which seemed a very odd place for someone to act that way. What Montana wanted to know was what she had done to the woman. Montana noticed that she had behaved the same way to Luke when he’d given her a casual hello. If only Erica would just move on. However, Montana didn’t let it bother her.

  She wasn’t in the wrong. Luke and Erica were not an item and never had been. He’d made it clear from the beginning that he wasn’t in the market. But Erica had ignored his warning. She was out of line—she needed to accept responsibility for her mistake and move on.

  Speaking of out of line, Montana was straightening up a barrel that was way off base from where it should be. One of the cowboys who worked for Clint had driven the tractor around, spreading and refreshing the dirt during lunch. He hadn’t been exactly worried about where he placed her three barrels when he was done. They were way out of line—but if she could handle Erica’s bad attitude, she could handle fixing a few barrels.

  “Hey, cowgirl, they making you move your own barrels around these days?”

  At the sound of Luke’s voice, she spun around to find him watching her from the other side of the pen. Her heart did the wacky little jangle it had started doing when he was around; she promptly ignored it. Giving him a cocky grin, she walked toward where he was standing. “Yup, I can’t prove it, but I think Clint’s trying to get me in better shape for the event, so he told Bill to move them way out of line, so I’d have to wrestle ’em into place. It’s a workout but it’s all good.” She flexed her muscle. “These babies are growing by the day.”

  He squinted at her arm. “You sure you call that a muscle?”

  The beeper he wore on his belt suddenly went off. He snatched it up and stared at the message. “Fire at Esther Mae Wilcox’s place,” he said, his words clipped. “I’m on the volunteer fire department. I’ve got to go.”

  “But wait,” she called, already having climbed to the top of the fence and thrown a leg over. She was about to jump to the ground when he turned, reached up and lifted her down.

  “Sorry, gotta go,” he said, then headed at a trot toward the exit.

  Obviously, the cowboy had misunderstood, thinking her call to wait was a call for help off the fence. She jogged after him, her mind on Esther Mae’s fire. She hoped it wasn’t bad. “I’m going with you,” she said, rounding the truck as he was yanking open his driver’s side door.

  He had the truck cranked by the time she had her door opened and had slung herself into the seat beside him.

  “You sure?” he asked, already backing out to turn the truck in the right direction.

  “Sure I’m sure. You might need help, so hit the gas, buddy!”

  He nodded and punched the gas. They peeled out of the drive, and from across the pasture she could see Clint’s black truck spraying gravel as he tore up one of the roads snaking deeper into the ranch. Clint and several of his ranch hands were on the volunteer fire department, too.

  The sun beamed down hot as they sped past the area designated for the festival. Starting tomorrow, which was Wednesday, the vendors would start turning up, and by Friday the festivities would begin. But none of that mattered as she thought of Esther Mae and Hank. And the fire. She prayed they were all right. Prayed for their safety.

  Luke snatched up a radio handset and shot questions at the dispatcher. It was a grease fire. Esther Mae had called it in. Hank was home, but out in the pasture somewhere. She was trying to put it out herself.

  “That’s not good,” Luke said, his expression growing grimmer. “Esther Mae is so excitable, she might get burned if she tries to deal with burning grease.”

  “The house isn’t worth her getting hurt.” Montana started praying harder for God to protect Esther Mae, and that the fire would be easily contained.

  The radio crackled, alive with communication, as men all across the community reacted. “You don’t have to go to town for your gear?” she asked when she realized they weren’t heading toward town.

  “It’s in my tack box in the truck bed. Clint will go to town and get the truck.”

  “There isn’t any smoke,” Montana observed a few minutes later as the house came into view. “Oh, look there they are! On the front porch.” Relief swamped her.

  “They look okay. That’s a blessing.”

  “Oh, my gracious!” Esther Mae exclaimed, flying off the porch to greet them with excited hugs. “Y’all got here so fast! Thank the good Lord.”

  Her yellow shirt was smeared with something white, and her flaming red hair and face looked like they had been rained on with flour. Her long, yellow shorts were streaked and the bottoms of them were dripping wet. Her right side was splotchy with water, too. Hank sat on the porch looking glum, totally drenched from head to toe. He held an ice pack to his forehead, and beneath it was a large purple knot.

  “What happened to you?” Montana and Luke almost said in unison. Other trucks were pulling in behind them, and there was small crowd of firefighting cowboys gathering, asking questions, too. Hank frowned and didn’t look at all enthused to speak.

  “Oh, Hank came to my rescue…” Esther Mae gushed, ever so happy to share. “At least he tried. See, I was frying up some catfish for lunch. And Norma Sue called on the phone—” She paused, shooting Luke and Montana a pink-tinged glance. “We were, um, talking—and I walked into the other room for a few minutes and forgot about the grease. When I came back in, it had started flaming. I screamed and called 911—I still had the phone in my hand. Then I ran to the door and shouted, ‘Fire!’ Hank was working in the barn and I was sure hoping he could hear me.”

  Hank rolled his eyes and shook his head, looking more and more like he had a bigger headache coming on than the goose egg growing on his forehead.

  “Did you get that bump when you were putting the fire out?” Montana asked.

  Hank grunted, turned a deep shade of magenta. “Not exactly.”

  “See, I shouted for Hank to bring water
. I meant the water hose, but I guess the first thing that hit him was the cow pond. He grabbed up a bucket and bolted toward that pond as fast as a man his age can go. I don’t know what I was more shocked at, him running or the fire! Well, I turned back to the kitchen and the flames were shooting up toward the ceiling, I gasped and let go of the door, and you aren’t going to believe this, but the wind suddenly came up out of nowhere, slammed that door back, ramming it up against the wall so hard that it shook the shelves on the wall above the fire flaming on the stove. The giant can of baking soda sitting up there fell off the shelf, knocking the lid off, and showered down on the fire and me like rain from the good Lord! It was a plum beautiful sight—and a miracle for certain.” Esther Mae blinked back tears and beamed happily at them all.

  Everyone was silent, glad the fire was out, amazed how it had happened, but still puzzled. What about Hank?

  It was suddenly apparent that whatever had happened to Hank must have been embarrassing, and no one was asking questions. Montana had to know, though.

  “So, what about Hank?” she asked. Everyone leaned in a little closer.

  Esther Mae’s head tilted. “I hurried to holler at Hank that it was okay. He’d just reached the pier and was breathing hard, but when I yelled he looked at me and he tripped.”

  “Yep, I tripped.”

  Esther Mae placed her hand on his shoulder and looked down at him. “Tripped on the edge of the water, and it’s shallow and muddy there. He skidded across that muddy water and slammed his head right into the pier. I had to run down there and fish him out.”

  Hank raised his head up, ice pack and all, and met Montana’s eyes first. And the most amazing thing happened…his lip twitched at the edge. His eyes twinkled, like the first glow of a star at night. When his lip twitched more, so did Montana’s. And then Hank chuckled.

  Montana chuckled with him, and then like popcorn beginning to pop, chuckles erupted one by one through the group.

  “Oh, Hank,” Esther Mae cooed, plopping down beside him and hugging him. “That’s my man. And you really did stop the fire. You’re the one who put that monster can of baking soda up there, just in case there ever was a fire.”

  Hank patted his wife’s hand and beamed when she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. And suddenly all in the world was right.

  Chapter Twelve

  “That was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen,” Montana said. She and Luke were driving back toward the ranch. “Hank was so embarrassed, but then it hit him that it could have been so much worse.”

  “Esther Mae cracks me up,” Luke added. “I didn’t think she was ever going to get the story told. And there sat poor Hank, dripping wet, with the lump on his forehead growing by the second.”

  Montana laughed at Luke’s humor. “Here I thought you were feeling sympathetic toward Hank’s situation.”

  “I was. Poor guy. I knew something was up when he wasn’t saying anything. But I couldn’t figure out how he got so wet.”

  “I’m just glad they were all right. And their house looked pretty good, considering what it could have been. I’m sure it will smell like burned grease for a few days, but for there not to be much flame damage shocked me.”

  “They were lucky. And what little damage that was done, Cole Turner can have changed out in a day. Fixing disasters is what he does.”

  She sighed, feeling good. “I’m really glad it turned out like that.”

  He glanced at her and slowed at a dirt road that split off the main road. “Thanks for coming along. You were great in there, helping clean up like you did.”

  “I didn’t do much. Not after Norma Sue and Adela arrived.”

  “You got it started until you got booted out.”

  Montana hooted. “Ha. It was so obvious that they wanted us to leave and go get this trailer full of calves you said you needed to move.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

  “I guess so. I know this is just your way of trying to get another date, but really, Luke, getting Esther Mae to almost burn her house down is taking it a bit too far.”

  “Yeah, that’s even too extreme for the matchmakers.”

  “True, but how about you?”

  His eyes twinkled when he looked at her. “I’m thinking right now that it’s all working out real fine.”

  Montana felt a warm glow fill her at his words and the look in his eyes. She hadn’t expected flattery. “You surprise me,” she said quietly.

  “Yeah? How’s that?”

  “You’re sweet. I mean, I thought Hank and Esther Mae were sweet but I wasn’t expecting you to be sweet.”

  “And you say that with such conviction.”

  She laughed at his dry tone. “Thanks, I really try hard,” she said drily, mocking his tone and making them both smile at the teasing banter between them.

  His ranch was neat, the wood fence around the small ranch house was old but had a fresh coat of black on it and the house looked as if it had just been painted, too. The white exterior gleamed in the clear May sunshine, making the black shutters and front door stand out. She liked the way it looked. The barn was a faded red that had withstood many years, but looked sturdy and very neat. She could tell just looking around that Luke and his brothers hadn’t bought the newest place in town, but it had good bones, and the land surrounding it was flat and full of cattle. Like most places it looked like the lack of rain was affecting it. But it was still pretty land.

  “I like your place.”

  He surveyed the land through the truck’s windows. “Thanks. We’re proud of it.” They drove past the house and down the lane to a stockyard where a trailer was backed up to the loading pen. They got out and he opened the gate. A truck whipped in as they were getting out and a man hopped from it.

  “You must be the one and only Montana Brown.” Striding up and holding out his hand, he grinned. “I’m Jess, Luke’s brother.”

  “Hi, Jess. I’m almost afraid to ask what you’ve heard about me.”

  He gave a cocky grin, his amber eyes lit with humor. “Oh, it’s all good, I guess, if you don’t mind being the talk of the town and all.”

  “The matchmakers?”

  He chuckled. “And App and Stanley. And Sam. Stanley was singing your praises again this morning when I went in for coffee and eggs. Seems you’ve made a friend for life, rescuing him with warm soup and your big, bright smile.”

  Montana felt warm inside, knowing she’d done the right thing taking that soup to him. “Luke helped, too.”

  Jess gave his brother an appraising glance. “He drove, no big deal. It’s the smile and warm heart of a pretty woman that Stanley remembers. That’s what helped him heal up ‘lickety-split,’ as he put it this morning.”

  “I didn’t do anything but be the delivery girl.”

  “So be it, but you’ll have a fan rootin’ for you loud and long come Friday night when you’re out there blasting around those barrels.”

  “After the fire today, she’ll have a couple of others doing the same where Esther Mae and Hank Wilcox are concerned.”

  “Fire? What fire? Did I miss something?”

  Luke filled him in on what had just transpired out at Esther Mae’s. When he was done, Jess flashed his pearly whites at her again. She had a feeling he was a heartbreaker like his brother. Like his brother, she wondered if he walked around grinning and smiling and leaving a trail of women behind with broken hearts and dashed dreams of happily-ever-after.

  “Y’all keep it up and you’ll both be up for the Mule Hollow Good Samaritan Award.” Jess gave them a thumbs-up.

  Luke grunted and turned to the pen full of calves. “I’m fixin’ ta move ’em in if you’ll work this end.”

  “Sure thing.” Jess winked at her and then went to man the gate.

  Luke was taking the teasing fairly good-naturedly. She wondered, when she wasn’t around, if it was better or worse. “I’ll help,” she said, and followed Luke into the pen.

  “You d
on’t need—”

  “Hey, I came to help, remember? And I do know a little about livestock.”

  “As you wish. Just stay clear of them. I don’t want you getting slammed up against the rails or anything.”

  “You got it, pardner.”

  They made quick work of herding the load onto the trailer, and then left the grinning Jess standing in the drive as they took off once more.

  “You must get teased all the time.” Her observation drew one of his nonchalant shrugs.

  “It comes with baby brothers.”

  “Is your other brother as bad?” she asked.

  “He has his moments. He’s a bull rider and stays out on the road more than Jess. We don’t see him as often as we like, but he’s going after his dreams. He’s down in Mesquite this week, riding in a PBR event. Then he’ll be here late Friday night, in time to catch the bull event here in town before heading to another event on Saturday night. Like you, he has a shot at the big time if he holds out and doesn’t make a mistake.”

  She scowled at him. “You saying I’m going to make a mistake?”

  He wasn’t smiling when he looked at her. “Nope. I’m saying you’re good, Montana. Real good. And if you keep putting in the time and start hauling to rodeos and making the points…” He paused, gave a small, serious little smile that evoked a feeling of encouragement that shot straight to her heart. “You do that, and you know as well as I do that you can go all the way to the finals and take it.”

  Montana’s heart clutched in her chest, looking at the sincerity in his eyes and hearing it in his words. It was her cowgirl dream, and suddenly she felt energized and lifted up.

  A lump lodged in her throat. When she managed to get past it, she grinned and teased him. “You’re just sayin’ that because you’re still trying to get a date with me?”

  “That’d be an affirmative on the still-trying-to-geta-date front. And you did just say I was sweet.” He batted his chocolate eyes at her, and her insides quivered like gelatin.