The Rebel Cowboy’s Quadruplets. Tina Leonard
took another bite of pie, sipped his coffee. “Let me know what I can do to help.”
“You have already. I can put the ranch on the market now, thanks to the wonderful shape you’re getting it in. I really appreciate it.”
A sudden pound on his back had him looking over his shoulder. “Ty!”
“Me in the flesh.” Ty slapped him on the back again and nodded at Mackenzie. “Jade told me I’d find this devil here.”
“I have things to discuss with you, Ty,” Mackenzie said, and he grinned.
“You can thank me later for sending you this guy,” Ty said.
“That’s just it,” Mackenzie said. “You really shouldn’t have.”
“Getting attached to him?” Ty teased, and Justin decided the conversation had gone far enough.
“Join us,” Justin said.
“No. No time.” Ty looked at him. “I’m in town for one thing and one thing only. And that’s to help you back to the rodeo circuit.”
Justin frowned. “How am I going to do that? I’m a bit physically challenged at the moment.”
“In a different capacity than riding,” Ty said. “You and I are going to travel the country recruiting talent.”
“Talent for what?” Justin didn’t like the idea of that at all. Correction: once upon a time he might have jumped on it enthusiastically. Traveling the country with one of his best buddies, seeing his friends on the rodeo circuit, giving back to the sport he loved so much—dream-come-true stuff.
His gaze slid to Mackenzie, who watched him with gently smiling eyes as she listened to Ty go on and on with his plans. Justin couldn’t work up the same excitement.
He felt like he had plenty to do here in Bridesmaids Creek that was important. Mackenzie smiled at him, a slow, sweet smile. Her big eyes were looking at him, so trusting, and that heartburn he’d been experiencing felt more like his heart was melting into a big soupy puddle.
Dang. This was new. Different.
Maybe hitting the road with Ty was the right idea.
He looked at his friend. “Why don’t you stop by the house later and tell me about this harebrained plan of yours?”
Ty looked at Mackenzie. “Would you mind? I know you’ve got a lot going on over there.”
“You’re welcome anytime.” Mackenzie got up. “Just know that if you take my cowboy, who has become indispensable to me, I’m going to offer you up as a candidate for the Best Man’s Fork run. All in the name of charity, of course.” She winked at Justin. “I’m going to talk to Jane for a moment.”
She headed toward Jane at the cash register. Ty studied his friend.
“You’ve got the strangest look on your face,” Ty said as Justin returned his gaze to Mackenzie. He just couldn’t seem to get enough of looking at her. “I’d say you have indigestion, except you’re smiling.”
Justin relaxed his mouth so the smile would disappear. He had been smiling, because his muscles ached a bit. Like he’d been smiling a long time—watching Mackenzie walk and chatter with some friends who came over to talk to her.
“I’m not smiling, but I may have indigestion.”
Ty snorted. “I see what’s going on here.”
“Do you.” He made the comment as flat as possible. His buddy’s opinion didn’t really matter. Ty had no idea what was going on, because Justin had no idea.
“You’re tired,” Ty said. “Being around those babies and that falling-down farm has worn you out. You better hit the road with me. You’ll be back to your old self in no time.”
“What was my old self?”
Ty put his hat on, prepared to leave, which was fine with Justin. Then he could go back to surreptitiously staring at Mackenzie. “Grumpy, cranky, annoying.”
Justin grunted. “Thought that was you.”
“Not me.” He peered at Justin. “I really hope this wasn’t too much for you, old buddy. I didn’t mean to bring you down. Figured some time in a small town with a real job would do you good.”
Justin put his hat on, too, because if he didn’t get out of there, people were going to notice that he couldn’t stop staring at his beautiful boss. “That’s what you get for thinking. See you at the house. Don’t get there too soon. I’m taking the boss lady shopping.”
Ty stared at him, stunned. “What’s happened to you?” he whispered. “You’re a shadow of your former self!”
Well, that was a question he didn’t care to ponder too much. Mackenzie came to stand beside him, smiling up into his face, and his poor stupid heart felt like it took the final dive into his stomach.
What had happened to him, indeed.
Mackenzie and four babies were happening to him, and they were going to require a great deal of consideration. This was a bad idea, this tiny woman with the big eyes and her sweet family. A very bad idea, because he wasn’t a family man; he wasn’t a staying man.
“You ready?” he asked Mackenzie, and she nodded.
“If you’re not going to chicken out,” she teased.
Oh, he might. He was thinking about it. Thinking about it hard.
But something told him he probably wouldn’t.
* * *
FOUR HOURS LATER, when Ty stopped by the house, Mackenzie wondered what her old friend was really up to. Ty had sent Justin to her, now he wanted him to hit the road?
It all seemed very convenient. As if Justin might have conned his buddy into helping him escape the Hanging H with a good reason.
“Anyway,” Ty said as the three of them sat at the wide wooden kitchen table, “the reason I stopped by is to get a game plan going with Mackenzie.”
“Game plan?” Mackenzie glanced at Justin. If Justin had been part of Ty’s game plan, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what the next play was.
“I wouldn’t leave you here without backup,” Ty said. “I know that in spite of his knee—”
“My knee’s fine,” Justin said, clearly annoyed.
Mackenzie glanced at him. Occasionally she saw Justin favor his knee, but it did seem as if he’d been limping less since he’d arrived at the Hanging H. The doctor in town had given him a soft knee brace, which he wore without hesitation. Now there were days when Justin walked like he wasn’t in any discomfort at all.
“I know your knee’s getting better,” Ty said. “I’m just saying that in spite of your knee, you’ve been a big help here. I can see a lot of improvement.” Ty shook his head. “Still, I wouldn’t leave Mackenzie in the lurch, so I was wondering if you mind, Mackenzie, if I swap cowboys on you.”
Mackenzie hesitated. “Swap cowboys?”
“Replace Justin, in a manner of speaking,” Ty said. His words ceased entirely when the kitchen door opened and Jade walked in.
“Howdy,” Ty said. He stood up to greet the tall, sexy redhead, removing his hat for a moment. “Jade Harper, long time, no see...and clearly I’ve been missing out.”
Jade laughed. “No sweet talk from you, Ty.” She gave him a hug and he might have tried to pinch her bottom, but Jade was too fast for him. “Hi, Justin. Mackenzie, who are the three hunky guys who just pulled up in the black truck outside?”
Mackenzie got up to look out the window.
“That’s the game plan,” Ty said with a