Page 5 of His First Baby Rodeo

“That’s the one.”

“I thought you guys didn’t really talk anymore. I haven’t heard you mention his name in years.”

“We’ve drifted apart,” Jeff agreed. “But it’s the kind of friendship that stays alive even if you haven’t seen each other for a long time. He called me to see if I could help him out — well, I can’t, of course, not with the new baby. But I told him you could.”

“Is that a good idea?” El asked. “Don’t you need me here to help with Jace?”

“El, I mean this in the nicest, most loving way possible, okay? No, we don’t. Marilyn and I are on our third child. We know how to handle this stuff by now. I don’t want you to hear this the wrong way — we’ve been happy to have you staying here while you figure stuff out. I know the breakup with Dean messed you up.”

El snorted. “This isn’t about Dean,” she said. “He’s a jerk.”

“Yeah, he is. And I’m glad you know that now! Still, you can’t pretend it didn’t set you back on your heels for a while there.”

“He’s the reason I moved back to Oklahoma,” she reminded her brother. “I thought we were going to get married.”

“I know. I get that. He’s scum for misleading you about that, and I’m sorry it went down the way it did. And you know you’re welcome to stay here as long as it takes for you to get back on your feet. But now here’s this job that would honestly be a great fit for you, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to see you take it. I think it’ll be good for you.”

“You’re probably right,” El admitted. “But are you sure this guy wants to hire me? He doesn’t even know me.”

“Well, you come highly recommended.” Her brother grinned. “He’s one of my best friends. You remember him, right?”

El didn’t answer. Shedidremember him — at least, she thought she did. The name called to mind a man in his mid-twenties, sandy blond hair, distant blue eyes. Though she’d never have admitted it to her brother, she had found Mac unbearably handsome when she was growing up — assuming he was the person she was thinking of.

The age gap between them had been too wide, in childhood, for any of Jeff’s friends to ever look twice at her. And the crushes she’d had on them had always been girlish, as actionable as the crushes she had on celebrities. She had never seriously entertained the idea of dating one of her brother’s friends. That would have been laughable. But shehadoften felt awkward and gawky around them, as if the only thing they might notice about her was her youth. This wouldn’t be like any other job. It would be uncomfortable, working for Mac Palmer.

And there was also the fact that he was famous. Notwildlyfamous, of course. Most people probably hadn’t heard of him. But El certainly had, and so had most of her friends. Anyone who paid attention to rodeo at all knew who Mac Palmer was.

“What would I have to do if I took the job?” she asked Jeff — and knew at once that he had been holding back on purpose. An uncomfortable look crossed his face. “What?” she demanded.

“Don’t write it off yet,” he said.

“Why are you afraid I’m going to write it off? Tell me what’s going on, Jeff.”

“Well, you’d have to go live on his ranch,” he explained. “This is a live-in job. He needs round-the-clock help.”

She nodded. She had expected something like that might happen. “It’s not that big a deal,” she said. “I’m assuming he’s got staff housing.”

“Yeah, he does. I mean, I haven’t seen the place in over five years, but he did then.”

“Okay, so it’s no big deal. I’ll stay at his place for a few weeks.”

“Well, it’s just that… his place is a little far away.”

“What do you mean? Where is it?”

“Texas.”

She groaned. “Are you serious?”

“Look, maybe it will be good for you to get out of Oklahoma,” he said hurriedly. “You only came home in the first place to be with Dean. Maybe it’ll be healing for you to get some distance.”

“Yeah, sure, maybe. Or maybe this is just taking me even farther from my real life.” She sighed. “I should never have moved here from Seattle in the first place.”

“I still don’t know what you were doing in Seattle.”

“Yes, you do. I was doing college.”

“Yeah, I know that, but in the Pacific Northwest? Your heart has always been in ranching and you know it. Even after I accepted that you were leaving for school, I always assumed you would come back after you graduated. You know, I hate to say the Dean thing was good for you in any way—”

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