Rancher's High-Stakes Rescue. Beth Cornelison
can’t go from fawning over the little baby to...eating his dad.”
Josh grunted and helped himself to a few ribs and a burger. “Trust me, this is not that little guy’s father. Papa is one of our best breeding bulls, and his life is safe as long as he keeps fathering prime offspring.” He set down the platter. “But I get your point, and I promise the rest of the dinner Helen made is pretty spectacular, too. Try this.” He handed her a pan of potato casserole. “She calls it potato supreme. I just call it delicious.”
“Helen?” Kate took the pan, savoring the scents of cheese and onion that wafted from the dish.
“Our cook. She used to be full-time, when we had more hands. Now she just does lunch for the family and hands along with special events like tonight.” Josh handed her another bowl, full of a mix of green vegetables.
“Can I have my pie now?” Connor said, drawing Kate’s attention.
“Finish your meat first, buddy,” said the guy introduced as Piper’s fiancé. She dug through her memory for the name. B... B...
“Aw, Brady!” Connor whined, flopping back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest with a pout.
Brady! That was it!
When she studied the boy and Brady closer, she saw the resemblance between them. While Dawn continued chatting up the plans for the travel brochure with Zane and Piper, Kate leaned toward Josh, whispering, “Connor is your nephew, you said? But he called your foreman his grampa. So that means Brady is...?”
Josh gave her a crooked grin and whispered back. “It’s complicated.”
She arched an eyebrow, intrigued.
“Well, not that complicated, but...” He rubbed a hand over his lips. “I’ll fill you in later.”
She leaned back in her seat, regarding Josh with a puzzled gaze. When she glanced toward the boy’s chair, she found it empty.
“Tell me about the calf, Kate,” Dawn said, drawing her attention. “We should definitely include pictures of the new baby in the brochure. What a precious way to bring home the point that this is a working family ranch.”
“Oh, he’s definitely precious,” Kate agreed. She was musing over the point that the Double M was a family ranch, a point brought home as she glanced around the table at the three generations gathered for dinner. Well, two generations...the third generation was still missing.
Something under the table bumped her knee, and she raised the edge of the plastic table cover to peek underneath.
Connor sat huddled at her feet and met her gaze. His eyes widened, and he placed a finger over his pursed lips in a shushing signal. She gave him a conspiratorial wink and returned her attention to the adult conversation.
“We can do a print run of one hundred thousand copies to start with,” Dawn was saying, “and print more as—”
“A hundred thousand?” Piper repeated, clearly aghast. “Why so many? Won’t that cost a fortune?”
“Well, we want a wide distribution of the materials,” Kate said. “You’d be surprised how few one hundred thousand really is, and with printed materials, the more you do, the less they cost per piece.”
“Where’s Connor?” Piper cut in, her face reflecting her alarm that the boy wasn’t at the table. “He was just here.” She looked around, clearly dismayed.
Brady covered her hand with his and gave her a calming smile, hitching his head toward their feet. “I don’t know,” he said in a stage voice, “but since he left, I guess that means I get to eat his pie.”
Under the table, Connor gasped, bumped Kate’s knees again, and cried out, “No! Here I am! I want my pie!”
Piper’s face reflected her relief, and a combination of amusement and irritation. “Connor, what are you doing under the table?”
While Brady and Piper leaned closer to talk in low voices to the boy, Zane waved a hand for Kate to continue. “Sorry. Life around here can be chaotic at times. You were saying?”
She shook her head. “Why don’t we save the business talk for later and just enjoy this pretty evening, the great dinner and good company?”
“I’ll drink to that,” Josh said, raising his glass of iced tea.
The rest of the meal passed with pleasant conversation about the history of the four-generations-old ranch, Piper and Brady’s upcoming nuptials, and Connor’s excitement over his friend’s dog having puppies. When they’d all finished eating, Zane, Piper and Josh excused themselves to mingle with the other guests who’d arrived just before dinner. Kate dawdled over the last of her slice of cherry pie and watched Josh greet one of two couples she’d met briefly when they arrived.
Dawn slid down to the chair next to Kate’s and leaned close. “He’s certainly charming and personable.”
Kate frowned at Dawn. “Who?”
Dawn’s returned look said, Like you don’t know.
Kate rolled her eyes. “The whole family is quite nice. It will be a pleasure to work with them.”
A peal of laughter drew her attention in time to see Josh lift Connor and drape the boy upside down over his shoulder. Connor laughed as Josh spun around, then planted the dizzy boy back on the ground.
“Yeah, see how funny it is when he throws up on you, Doofus!” Piper called to her brother.
After a few more minutes of racing around the yard with the boy, Josh jogged up, panting, with Connor on his heels. “Tag, man,” he gasped, slapping Brady on the shoulder. “You’re up. I’m dying here.”
“Thanks for wearing him out,” Brady said, pushing to his feet. “The kid is gonna sleep well tonight!”
“He’s not the only one,” Josh said, taking the chair Brady vacated.
“So the itinerary posted in the guesthouse says tomorrow we learn to saddle and ride horses and get a glimpse of other aspects of ranching life.” Kate ran a finger down the side of her glass, wiping off the drips of condensation.
“Yep,” Josh said. “Bright and early. We’ll start with a hearty breakfast, then gather up in the corral behind the stable.”
“I just remembered I never called Dean back,” Dawn said. “Will you excuse me?” Dawn rose from the table, wearing a smirk.
But Kate was having none of Dawn’s ploy. She already saw a battle with her attraction to him ahead and the day’s travel was catching up to her. “I’m going to call it a night, as well. Thanks for everything.”
Josh touched the brim of his hat and winked at her. “See you in the morning.”
Kate took her trash to the waiting receptacle, then headed into the guesthouse. Dawn wasn’t on the phone when she got there, lending more credence to her theory about her friend’s continuing efforts to play matchmaker.
Dawn grunted and frowned at Kate from the kitchenette, where she was pouring herself a glass of wine. “Why are you in here instead of enjoying Josh’s company?”
“Because, like I’ve said, this is a business trip. I’m not looking for a hookup.”
Dawn set the wine bottle down and licked a drip of the merlot from her finger as she pinned a hard look on Kate. “Are you sure that’s all it is? Is everything okay?”
Kate blinked, a bit startled by the question. “Of course. Why?”
Her colleague twisted her mouth and gave her a narrow-eyed scrutiny. “You just don’t seem that excited to be here. You’ve acted rather reluctant since we landed this account and scheduled this trip. What’s wrong? What am I missing?”
Kate waffled briefly between telling