Page 40 of Cowboy Friend Zone for Christmas

It was fun doing stuff for her, though, and watching her radiate mountains of happiness afterward. Being with Noelle Ward was like the ultimate ride. Experiencing her kisses was better than seeing his name at the top of the score charts, and he should know. He’d earned his share of first place slots. Every moment in her arms felt like riding the wind. Surfing a rainbow. Lassoing the moon.

And they were just getting started.

CHAPTER 9: THE LONG GAME

The next morning, Noelle awoke to the incessant vibrating of her cell phone on the nightstand. “Just stop,” she muttered, reaching blindly for it. It was way too early for chatting. She squinted at the screen, wondering who would be rude enough to call her at five o’clock in the morning.

She groaned out loud at the name flashing across the screen.

Beatrice Ward.

Noelle had missed no less than three calls from her already. She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. Weren’t her parents supposed to be on another cruise, this time to the Mediterranean? She seemed to remember her mother saying something about visiting with a friend overseas for her birthday. Had something gone wrong? Though Noelle wasn’t close to them, she wished them no ill.

With a sigh of resignation, she took the call. “Mom?”

“Good gracious! You’re awfully hard to get ahold of!” Her mother sounded so indignant that Noelle’s heart leaped into her throat.

“What’s wrong?” She gripped the phone harder, bracing herself for bad news. “Is Dad okay?”

“He’s fine. We’re both fine,” her mother snapped. “Aren’t I allowed to call my own daughter?”

“It’s five o’clock in the morning,” Noelle pointed out, hanging on to her patience by a thread.

“I miss you,” her mother whined.

Right. Noelle wasn’t buying that line. The two of them hadn’t been close in, well, ever. Noelle had mostly been raised by nannies and babysitters while her mother shopped, spent endless hours at the health spa, and hung out with her country club friends.

She muffled a yawn and infused as much politeness into her voice as she could. “How’s the cruise?” As usual, her mother had to be working an angle. Hopefully, she’d get to the real point of her call quickly so Noelle could go back to sleep.

“The first half was decent. Then your dad got sick, and we had to cut it short.” It was hard to tell if her mother was mad, sad, or just accepting of their truncated vacation plans.

Noelle sat up straighter, feeling more awake. “Is he alright?”

“He is now. I already told you that. We jumped ship, so to speak, caught a flight from Rome, and arrived home last night.”

“You mean you’re back in Pinetop?” Noelle’s stomach muscles clenched. A little more of a heads up would’ve been nice.

“Where else? Pinetop is where we live now, sweetie.” Despite the endearment, her mother managed to sound more condescending than affectionate.

“Are you going to take Dad to the doctor today?” Noelle frowned into the darkness, wondering if she should offer to accompany them.

“I don’t think that’s necessary. He finally admitted he forgot to take his blood pressure meds for a few days. We think his symptoms were a direct result of that.”

But you don’t know that for sure. “You might want to take him to get seen anyway, Mom. Just to be safe.”

“Your dad is stubborn. I can’t exactly make him go.” Her mother’s tone indicated that she felt like the real victim in the situation.

Noelle rolled her eyes. “If anyone can persuade him, Mom, you can.” Her mother held an almost uncanny power over the man.

“Tell you what.” Triss Ward’s voice grew wheedling.

Here it comes. Her mother was so predictable sometimes that it was laughable.

“I might be able to twist his arm about going to the doctor if you agree to join us for lunch.” Her voice grew deceptively soft. “You know, as a reward for good behavior.”

The mere thought of being alone with her parents for an hour straight made Noelle’s head ache. However, they were overdue for a visit. She had no interest in being hounded to death within the seclusion of their home, but maybe they could meet at a restaurant.

“Alright.” She swallowed another groan. “I’m supposed to work at the ranch today, but?—”

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