New Year, New Man. Natalie Anderson
I ruined the whole day?”
She looked up as Josh filled the doorway leading to the front hall. His broad shoulders looked as tense as hers felt.
“You need to apologize,” she answered.
“To Claire or to you?” He crossed his arms over his chest, his dark eyes unreadable in the shadows of the soft evening light.
“I’m not important here.” She straightened, wiping an imaginary crumb from the counter. “Your daughter is.”
“You’re important to me,” he said quietly.
“Don’t do that, Josh.”
“Do what?”
“Care.”
He took a step forward at the same moment the back door of the house burst open.
“Come on, you two,” Ryan said. “I’ve got the masses corralled into the Suburban. We need to make it to town before the poor vehicle implodes from the force of all that testosterone.”
Sara saw his eyebrows raise as he studied both Josh and her. “Whatever’s going on here can only be helped by a drink and some food. Let’s go.”
Before she could argue, Ryan took her hand and pulled her out into the night.
* * *
Josh emptied his second beer and set it on the table. He looked down to where Sara sat, Manny and Noah on either side of her. He made eye contact with the waitress and lifted his finger to order another round.
“Rough day with the girls?” Dave asked from his seat next to him.
“I’d rather spend an hour in the ring with the orneriest bull you can find than another minute shopping.”
“Amen to that,” his friend agreed. “But I sure do like the results.”
Josh followed Dave’s gaze to where Brandy did a quick two-step with young Bryson on the dance floor. She wore a short skirt and a colorful blouse that flowed as she spun to the music. “How do you two make it look so easy?” he grumbled.
“I’m smarter than you,” his friend told him sagely. “I keep my mouth shut unless I’m giving her a compliment.”
Josh’s laugh turned into a coughing fit as Noah leaned in close to whisper in Sara’s ear.
He started to stand but Dave cuffed him on the shoulder. “He’s doing it to get a rise out of you.”
“Looks more like he’s trying to get a rise out of himself.”
“It’s freaking him out being in town again, but we wanted to make sure you were doing okay. Neither of us planned on ever coming back to Crimson until we heard you’d settled here.”
“Wasn’t my plan either, but I’m going to make it work.”
“Have you seen Logan and Jake recently?”
Josh took a breath at the mention of his two brothers. “Jake was here for Mom’s funeral a couple of years ago. We both stayed less than twenty-four hours. Long enough to hire someone to clear out the old house and get it on the market. He flew off to whatever country needed doctors again after that. Logan...well, he couldn’t exactly get away at the time.”
“I’m sorry, man. About a lot of things.”
Josh did stand now. He wasn’t ready for this conversation. “I’m going to stretch my legs while doing my best to ignore your brother.”
He got his beer at the bar and tried not to watch his two so-called friends flirting with Sara. It wasn’t any business of his what she did with her time, but it still grated on his nerves.
His eyes strayed to the woman next to him, or at least to her hands, which were busily building some sort of structure out of a pile of matchbooks. “That’s quite a building you’ve got there,” he said, focusing all his wayward attention on the intricate display.
The woman jumped three feet in the air at his words, the house of matchbooks crumbling onto the bar.
“Sorry,” he said with a wince. “Looks like that took some time.”
He saw color rise to her pale cheeks. She turned and gave him an embarrassed smile. “It’s a silly pastime.” Her light brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head. She began stacking the little cardboard boxes into neat rows. “You’re Josh Travers, right?”
He nodded. “Have we met?”
She shook her head. “No, but my husband grew up here, so he’s mentioned you.” She glanced over her shoulder. “He told me Serena Wellens is staying with you for the summer.”
“Her name is Sara Wells now,” Josh said, his protective instinct kicking in. “Who is your husband?”
The woman closed her eyes for a moment as if she’d said too much. Just then a firm hand clasped Josh on the shoulder. “Travers, it’s been a while. How’s it hangin’?”
Josh turned to see Craig Wilder, one of his least favorite people in all of Crimson, Colorado. Craig had been an insufferable prig as a kid. His family was the wealthiest in town, and they’d made sure everyone else knew it. Craig had had no time for any of the Travers kids, who were way below him on the social totem pole. Since Josh had come back, not much had changed. He knew Craig had become mayor last year, and he’d heard rumors that he’d bought the election. But Josh hadn’t had a conversation with him for years, and he didn’t want to start now.
One more reason he kept to himself out on the ranch.
“It’s hanging fine,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I see you met my wife, Olivia.” Craig glanced at the woman. “Seriously, you aren’t making those stupid houses again, are you, Liv?”
“No,” she mumbled, and gave Josh an apologetic smile.
“I’m going to head back to the table,” Josh said quickly. “Dave and Noah are at the ranch this week.”
Craig stepped in front of him. “I hear Serena Wellens is there, too.”
“She prefers Sara Wells,” Olivia interjected.
Craig shot his wife a silencing glare. “You may have heard that in addition to my duties as mayor, I bought the old community-center building in town. I feel as though it’s my civic duty to bring some culture back to Crimson. There are plenty of people who’d drive over from Aspen with the right incentive.”
Josh took a slow pull on his beer. “You think Sara is the right incentive?”
“A D-list celebrity,” Craig said with a chuckle, “is better than no celebrity at all.”
Without thinking, Josh reached out and grabbed the other man by his shirtfront, pulling him close enough to see the whites of his eyes. “You’re not using Sara for anything, Wilder. Don’t talk to her. Don’t even look at her. You were a slimeball when we were young, and I don’t see that much has changed.”
Craig fidgeted. then narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to need the support of this town and the visitors’ center to draw people to your ranch. Don’t forget that.”
Olivia stood and smiled at Josh. “I volunteer at the visitors’ center. I’ll make sure you get whatever publicity you need, Mr. Travers.”
“Shut it, Liv,” Craig said on a hiss of breath.
“I’ll wait for you in the car,” she answered, and turned away.
Josh released Craig and stared as he stomped off after his wife. He couldn’t imagine all the things wrong in that marriage, but he’d meant what he said. He wouldn’t let anyone use Sara for her fame. She deserved much more than that.
His eyes tracked to