The Rancher's Fake Fiancée. Amy Vastine
asked, hoping he’d be more willing to discuss the other Blackwells.
“Jonathan is my oldest brother, the only one who isn’t a twin, but he does ironically have twin girls.”
“What’s Jon’s wife’s name?”
“No wife. Jon is divorced. Although, he recently got engaged to his nanny, Lydia.” Tyler raised his eyebrows like it was a bit scandalous.
“He left his wife for the nanny?”
“No, no. His ex has been out of the picture since the twins were born.” The invitation to talk about someone else was all it took to open up the floodgates. “Jon’s the quintessential good guy in the white hat. He’s a hardworking cowboy. He was my dad’s favorite, probably because they were so alike. You’ll never see the guy in anything other than jeans, a plaid shirt and cowboy boots. Total opposite of Ben. Ben is all city boy. I’m sort of shocked he gave up his life in New York to settle back down in Falcon Creek, especially since he got dumped at the altar a few years back. No one likes getting dumped, but it was worse than that. She left him for our grandfather.”
“Whoa, wait. What?” Hadley knew about family dysfunction, but that was really messed up.
“Trust me, I think Ben got the better end of the deal. Zoe was nothing but a superficial gold digger. Ben deserved better and I’ve always thought that maybe Big E proposed to her because he knew Ben would have been miserable if they had ended up together. Ben has always been our grandfather’s favorite. The two of them have the same cutthroat mentality.”
“What’s keeping him in Montana, then?”
“Since he’s been home, he somehow managed to fall in love and get married to Rachel, an old friend whose family lives on the ranch next to ours. You’ll meet her, too.”
Fantastic, another woman in the mix. Hadley needed more information if she was going to trick three men and four women.
“In fact, the latest is that Big E filed for divorce and Zoe is back in Falcon Creek heartbroken,” Tyler said with a smile.
“Will I have to meet Zoe, too?”
“Lord, I hope not,” Tyler said as the flight attendant offered them a refill on their drinks and a warm cookie. Hadley might never be able to fly economy ever again.
“Jon and Ben will be busy with their own ranches. Ethan will be with us. Ethan is Ben’s twin,” Tyler continued after devouring his cookie. “Ben will tell you he’s five minutes older so that makes Ethan the middle child, which fits his personality. He gets along with everyone and always tries to be the peacekeeper. He was the softy in our brood and our mother’s clear favorite. The two of them had the same love of animals. She’s probably the reason he became a vet.”
For someone who didn’t have any favorites, he was awfully aware of how his family played them. “So let me guess, you and your twin brother were the black sheep of the family. No one’s favorites?”
Tyler chuckled. “Chance would tell you he’s the lone Blackwell black sheep because living in Big Sky Country wasn’t for him, but when we were little and our real grandma was still on the ranch, he was by far her favorite. She used to sing and play songs on the piano with him. I’m the only one in the family who didn’t have anyone’s undivided attention.” His gaze drifted back out the window. “I was the invisible one.”
Hadley knew exactly how it felt to be the invisible child. How frustrating it was to never quite be enough. She had felt that way her entire life. Being the younger, less successful sister of Asher Sullivan wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
“Maybe we have more in common than I thought,” Hadley said, turning her body in his direction.
“You don’t want to be like me. No one loves me the most for a reason.”
“Oh, come on. You aren’t that bad.”
His jaw tightened and he took a deep breath through his nose. “Trust me, Hadley. I’m the worst.”
TYLER STRUGGLED TO ignore Hadley’s incessant fidgeting in the passenger seat of his rental car. He had warned her that she should be prepared to be in the middle of nowhere.
“We’re almost there. Can you try being still for a minute?” he asked. When she wasn’t peppering him with her millions of questions, she was distracting him with her anxious silence. After two hours on the plane and two hours in the car, maybe they had both hit their limit of togetherness.
“Any chance we can stop to use a bathroom?” she asked. That explained her wriggling.
They were only a few miles away from Falcon Creek. Tyler was more than happy to delay their arrival at the ranch. Actually, he wished he could turn around and get back on a plane headed anywhere but here. Being this close to the place he used to call home made his stomach ache with something other than hunger.
“Maybe we should grab some lunch in town. We’ll be eating at the ranch the rest of the trip.”
Hadley seemingly had no issue with that idea given that her stomach growled loudly. Tyler spotted the sign for Falcon Creek and exited the highway. This place was still a one-stoplight town. It hadn’t changed since Tyler was a baby.
The dive bar where Chance played his first real gig was still standing. Pops Brewster sat out front Brewster Ranch Supply playing chess just like he had for as long as Tyler could remember. Maple Bear Bakery was where Big E used to buy Ty and his brothers doughnuts when he was feeling generous, which wasn’t often, but that made the treat so much more delicious.
Clearwater Café was probably the best place to stop for a hot meal. Tyler sat in an open booth while Hadley ran to the bathroom. He glanced over the menu and ordered a couple of sodas for the two of them.
“That was the cleanest public bathroom I have ever used,” Hadley reported as she slid into the seat across from him. “I think I love this place.”
“They also serve your favorite—macaroni and cheese.” Tyler could tell anyone who asked Hadley’s favorite everything. She had been more than thorough in preparing him today.
She smiled and he noticed the way it lit up her entire face. “You remembered.”
“Tyler Blackwell? Is that you? Oh, my goodness, it is.”
Tyler had hoped they would go unrecognized, but that was impossible in this small town. He turned his head to find a pink monster headed his way.
“Grandma, is that you? You look so much older than the last time I saw you.”
Of all the people he didn’t want to run into, Zoe was at the top of the list. She scowled at him as she flipped her long, blond ponytail behind her shoulder.
“You’re really going to kick me when I’m down, Ty? That horrible excuse for a human being you call your good-for-nothing grandfather already did quite enough to make me feel like a worthless piece of trash.”
An unexpected guilt washed over him. Tyler didn’t realize he could feel sorry for Zoe given all she had put his family through, but he did.
“Big E has a way of making everyone feel small. Don’t take it personally.”
“I’ll try to remember that,” she replied, her face softening a bit. “What are you doing back here? I thought you were never coming back. And who is this?” Zoe turned all of her attention on Hadley.
“Hadley, meet my ex-stepgrandma, Zoe. Zoe, this is Hadley.”
“His fiancée,” Hadley clarified.
Tyler internally chastised himself for not being prepared to begin this charade. Remembering to refer to her as his fiancée was important and he’d failed right out of the gate.
“Fiancée?”