Page 22 of The Texas Cowboy's Proposal

“The old lady made a big mistake, I’m thinking. She seriously underestimated her granddaughter. And I think she might have been better choosingyouinstead of me for this arrangement. You two are far more alike than she and I are.”

Jaxson shook his head and the grin returned, his gaze remaining on the road ahead of him. “She chose right. I agree about the part she underestimated her granddaughter, but she chose you for a reason. It’s the differences in two people that often make the best cement. Soft and hard, tough, and gentle—get the recipe just right and you got a good strong mixture. And you need a lot of strength in the three years ahead. And that is the long way around to saying, just don’t let a good woman get lost in all the other baggage. Don’t miss out on what might be the last best chance for both you and Lacy.”

Beaudry stayed silent for a bit, his mind going over the sage advice. “That is pretty good like all your words of wisdom from an old bachelor like yourself. I would hope that you might be telling yourself those things too. You’re not getting any younger.”

“That’s kinda cryptic.”

“The other granddaughter,the one that got away, I believe you referred to her a few years back after we had seen her take off for college in that shiny private plane. Where would she be in all of your words of wisdom?”

Jaxson said nothing for a few moments. But Beaudry felt the stiffness filling the body beside him. It was a defense mechanism he was well aware of in his big brother. Especially whenever anything pertaining to Laurel Burkitt was mentioned in his presence. As with Sammi Jo, that invisible wall of armor was zipping itself around Jaxson’s feelings.

“Same song, third verse again. Didn’t you see her take off a few weeks back in that same shiny plane? Headed for the glitz and glamour of Hollywood? That’s all there is to say on that subject. Now hand over one of those burritos Seraphina packed. I think all this speechifying has made me hungry enough to eat two of them.”

Beaudry was smart enough to know when to drop this particular subject. He had watched his brother get bruised more than a few times over the years as Laurel Burkitt dazzled her way through high school and then college, while Jaxson stood in the shadows behind the crowd of rich male suitors, the glimpse of longing in the dark eyes quickly shuttered if anyone came too close. But Beaudry had seen it. And he hadn’t understood it back then.

Now, seated in that front seat in that moment, a realization snapped into place and jarred something deep inside the space in his chest. A space that had been walled off until a determined female had stepped up and rattled the doorknob. Beaudry had a vision of a boot planting itself squarely in the crack in the doorway.

Sammi Jo Burkitt was staking a claim he had no way of ignoring.Darn that woman.

*

“What are youdoing?” Sammi Jo was standing behind her sister, a travel bag slung over one shoulder and the handle of a small rolling case gripped in her other hand. “What’s the holdup?” She watched as her sister took in another deep breath, face upturned to the noonday Texas sun, eyes closed, as if savoring some exotic flavor.

Slowly, Laurel shook her head. “Now this is what I miss. I’m just taking it all in for a moment.”

“Well, all I see is that you are going to get a first-class sunburn standing around in the glare of a hot sun bouncing off an asphalt tarmac, no matter what the thermometer might say. You seem to have forgotten what that Texas sun is really all about. And some of us have business to get to, in case you’re wondering why I’m standing here like this behind you.” She jiggled the clothes bag over her shoulder for the appropriate sound effect.

Finally, that earned her a glance, along with a grimace. “That sunshine comes along with something you take for granted, and I have missed fresh, smog-free, sweet-smellin’ air, dear sister. I’m filling my lungs with it so I can take a supply with me when I leave.”

“I’ll mail you a care package each week. Just move it. And if you care so much about it, you know how to fix it. Come back home. Now, move.” And Sammi Jo stepped around her, leading the way down the steps from the jet.

“You have become even more bossy than I remember. Just remember who has seniority and always will between the two of us.”

“I never forget that you are theolderone. But thanks for reminding me how to treat myelders.” Sammi Jo smiled as she led the way to the black town car that waited for them, the driver already loading the luggage in the trunk. As usual, her sister had packed a month’s worth of clothing for a two-day trip. Once he had taken Sammi’s items and stowed them, they were soon leaving the airport behind.

“I had hoped that maybe my future brother-in-law might have been the one picking us up. I think I should get reacquainted with him before the wedding.”

There was the needling again. Why had she agreed to hop on the private jet with her sister when she had made a quick stop at the ranch’s landing strip? Sammi Jo could have driven herself or gone with Jaxson and the horses when they had left yesterday. But then, she wasn’t in the mood to share the ride with Beaudry. Things hadn’t settled in her mind from the Sunday lunch she had hosted at the main house. It was clear Lacy had enjoyed herself and Sammi Jo had enjoyed it, too, with her. But there seemed to be something going on with Beaudry, and his comments had been even more enigmatic than he normally could be. And that irritated her.

So Laurel’s invitation had been opportune—or so she had thought. After the twenty questions during the first part of the flight, they had both turned their thoughts inward, and quiet had reigned for the last half hour. She supposed it was too much to hope for it to last long.

“He and Jaxson have work to do. You know the routine. Transport stock, check them in, have Doc Meyers go over each one to insure nothing transpired during the trip here. Feed, bed them down, and then get things ready for the show ring and sale.”

“Anyone competing this time around?” The question was nonchalant enough, but Sammi Jo knew better.

“Beaudry has entered Texas Moonshine in the cutting horse competition, of course. We have a couple of the hands you probably don’t remember, Billy and Carson, team roping and showing some of our stock in the auction.”

There was silence. But not for long. Sammi Jo smiled as she kept her gaze with feigned interest on the passing buildings outside her window.

“And what about your foreman? I suppose he’s running the show, as usual?”

“My foreman has a name and you know it. And since I have been roped in to this grand opening at the Western Art Gallery with you, then someone needs to keep an eye on all things ranch related. So, yes, Jaxson Hawkes is alive and well and no signs of a broken heart to be seen at all.”

“Roped into? Sorry, honey, there are duties you might not like but are necessary evils, especially when our family donates an entire wing of paintings and sculptures to one of the foremost galleries in the southwestern part of this country. You have to leave the jeans behind and act like a well-heeled ranch matriarch—goes with the territory now that Grandmother is gone.” There was a pause. “Good for Jaxson. Although I doubt that lone wolf will ever become domesticated enough for any female around Burkitt to snare him.”

“First of all, Grandmother donated this wing. I had nothing to do with it. But then again,”—Sammi Jo corrected herself—“seems that is the prevailing theme since she left us holding the proverbial bag. We are still dancing to her tune in one way or another.” Pausing, she turned to Laurel. “Maybe Jaxson needs an extra special woman to match him, someone who knows what she wants and knows where in Texas to settle down for the long haul with a good man and build a future.”

Laurel met her gaze with one of her own. The difference being her gaze was shielded by the dark lenses of the sunglasses she wore. “Sounds like you’re a cheerleader for at least one of the Hawkes brothers. Maybe you should take that ardent description and apply it to Beaudry and yourself. Those three years might not be that long after all, if you did.”

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