Blackhill Ranch (7 page)

Did my dad just blush? I
used that as my cue to leave. “Hey, I'm going to head over to the
kitchen and go help Tina out a bit. We are going to write up a menu
for next weeks' large bachelor group.” I said and waved to Carol
and my dad.

“Please tell Tina hello
for me. I haven't seen her in ages,” Carol said and stood to give
me a small hug. She seemed nice, and it looked like I was going to
have to pry Tina for a little more info on her.

As I headed out the door
towards the dining hall, my phone rang and I saw that Brian was
calling me.

“Hey, Brian. What's up?” I
asked and stopped to sit on a rock near by.

“Hey, gorgeous. How's my
girl?”

“I'm not sure I am titled
as your girl anymore, but I am great. I just met our new
accountant. The one I have been hounding my dad to hire for years.
How are you?”

“Good, just missing you
and making sure you are settled in,” he said with a hint of sadness
in his voice. I was a little surprised by his tone because he was
the one who really wanted this break. I know I didn't put up much
of a fight, but his reasons made sense.

“Hey, as I recall you
wanted this break. I hope you use it wisely and make sure you find
a killer job,” I said in the most upbeat tone I could manage. It
was weird, but I felt like I would hurt Rhet just by talking to
Brian. I know it was premature to think like this and we are just
taking it slow and having fun, but I couldn't shake this feeling.
Was I Rhet's girl? Ugh, relationships are overrated
sometimes.

“I know, Lex. I just
didn't know how much I would miss you. I need to ask you something.
Will you come back here if I find a killer job? Would you move back
to California and be happy?” His tone sounded hopeful, and that
made my stomach start turning. I felt like I was going to be sick.
I hated having this conversation over the phone. We should have
thought about this more before we left.

“Brian, I don't want to
talk about this now. Maybe I can come out at the end of summer and
we can see how things are going?” I sighed into the phone and
listened to his breath quicken.

“Okay, I know. I
understand. I am the one who pushed this on you, so how can I
complain or be sad? I just don't know if I can go all summer and
not see you,” he said as I stood and continued heading to the
dining hall.

“Just focus on what your
goals are, and we will work out our relationship later. Remember,
we said we were open to date other people this summer so just have
fun,” I said with hope in my voice.

“I'll try, but I can't
imagine thinking of you being with anyone else. I love you, Lexi.”
He hiccuped and it sounded like he was starting to cry. This was
killing me, too. Not because I really missed Brian, but I felt bad
that in the end I knew he was going to be hurt. Who am I kidding?
I'll probably end up with a broken heart as well.

“Bye, Brian.” I said and
hung up the phone quickly. Well, that sucked. Hopefully he'll find
his dream job soon, and things will get better. I knew he had a few
interviews next week, so I was excited to hear about them. This
conversation sparked a little interest in Rhet's previous
relationships. I know he has been through some hard times, but now
I was curious.

**

When I entered the back of
the kitchen, I was overwhelmed by a delicious smell. “My gosh,
Tina, what in the world are you making?”

“You like that? It's a new
recipe from the Pioneer Women. She is one of my favorite cooks on
Food Network and this is her amazing recipe for Pulled Pork
Sliders. You'll never guess what the secret ingredient is? Dr.
Pepper! How fun is that?” she smiled and clapped her hands
together. I love dorky chief Tina.

“I do love pulled pork and
Dr. Pepper, so it sounds delicious. She is talented, and the fact
that she has basset hounds scores a few extra points in my book.”
Growing up we always had a basset hound. Our last one, Gus, died
right after I left for college. He was a great dog, even though he
was more like a black lab than a basset hound. We loved him so
much. Basset hounds were my mom's favorite dogs, so they hold a
special place in my heart.

Enough about dogs, it was
time to get down to business. “So, I met Carol.”

Tina whipped her head
around and looked right at me. “Really? That two-timing hussy. Is
she fat?”

“Tina, No.” I stammered
and couldn't help but giggle. “She is quite attractive. Not as
pretty as you of course, but she isn't over weight by any means.” I
tried to keep a straight face, but started laughing when she rolled
her eyes. Why did she bother Tina so much?

“Yeah yeah. Well, I bet
she is still a little tramp,” Tina said with a bite in her tone. “I
just don't know why she needs to come here of all
places.”

“I need details and I need
them now. Why are you so anti-Carol? Seriously, I met her and
talked with her. She seems nice. Spill or I'll do something to get
you to talk.” I squared my shoulders at her and gave her my most
serious poker face.

“I just don't like to talk
about it, but I don't want you starting a food fight or anything.”
She winked over at me. “Sit down, honey, this isn't a pretty story.
We go way back. Like I said, we grew up together and it all started
in eight grade. I was in love. In real, skipping, singing,
listening to silly love songs, love. His name was Chris, and he was
something else. Well, Carol, being my friend knew I loved Chris.
She heard me swoon about him and even helped me with strategies to
get him to notice me. Middle school didn't happen, so it was up to
me that our freshmen year ended with me dating him. That was until
my two-timing floozie of a friend swooped in and stole him right
from under my nose. She dated him all through high school, got
pregnant the summer we graduated, and married him that fall. I had
to spend my entire high school life watching the love of my life
date my best friend. It was horrible, and now to have to watch her
come in here and dig her claws into your father. It will kill me.”
She lowered her head and looked genuinely sad.

“Tina, that is a very sad
story. Did she tell you she was thinking of dating him? I can't
believe a good friend would do that. It's a code that every
girlfriend should know.” I rubbed her back and tried to comfort
her, and I was reminded how long women hold onto their
feelings.

“I didn't even want to
listen to her story of how they got together. Things changed when
they started dating, and she entered the “Chris Bubble.” We would
go out for sundaes or a movie, but she was always close to Chris's
side.” Tina closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath.
“Well, enough of that sap. Let's get these sliders finished, and we
can serve dinner soon. Maybe we can work on our menu after
supper?”

“Sounds great.” I smiled
and gave her a small hug. “Just tell me what to do, boss, and I'm
at your service.” I laughed and winked over at her. She threw her
towel at me and started telling me everything she
needed.

**

After the guests filed out
of the dining hall and headed outside to our large campfire site, I
grabbed some food and finally had a chance to sit down and eat. I
was starving, and just when I went to take a bite, I felt a small
chill and knew instantly that Rhet walked in the dining hall. I
prepared myself and looked up to find him. I couldn't find him, and
thought maybe my sign of knowing when your soul mate was around was
a bust. Then I noticed that one of my shirt buttons had come undone
and I started laughing to myself. Right when I finished buttoning
it I heard someone clear their throat behind me and I looked up and
saw Rhet. We made eye contact immediately, and he gave me his
signature swoon worthy smile. I was in trouble here, how can I go
from Rhet to anyone else? He winked at me and sat right beside
me.

“Hey, how has your day
been?” He asked as he took a ridiculously large bite of his
slider.

I laughed and dabbed my
napkin by the corner of his mouth where he had missed. “Great, how
about you?”

“Pretty good I guess. I
just cleaned up the stalls and took some horses out with Ricky for
a walk. Cole should be back tomorrow around lunch, so we got
everything ready for them,” he said as he finished chewing up his
bite. Rhet definitely ate his food with passion. He made everything
he was eating look like the most delicious food you have ever laid
eyes on.

I laughed as he looked
over at me with another full mouth, and said what I assumed was
“what?” I shook my head while taking a small bite of my own
sandwich, and he grinned at me while wiggling his eyebrows. I
rolled my eyes and laughed some more. Rhet was so easy to be
around, and I couldn't shake my feeling of wanting to kiss those
lips of his.

“This sandwich is amazing.
I love Tina. I think I could marry that woman and live a long, fat,
happy life.” He closed his eyes to take his last bite.

“I may have to fight her.”
I laughed and bumped his shoulder with mine. He smiled and shook
his head.

“Hey, I was thinking of
going for a swim or maybe a soak in the hot tub later. Want to join
me?”

“Sure, that sounds
wonderful.” The hot tub especially sounded devine. I love to swim
laps. It's one of my favorite exercises, but nothing beats a nice
soak in a large warm tub of water. A thought just popped into my
head that we would both be in swimsuits, and I'll be looking at
Rhet's bare chest again. I got a little nervous because last time I
was brought face-to-face with bare-chested Rhet, I was a blubbering
idiot. So me being me when I'm nervous blurted out the first thing
on my mind, “Wait, do you just want to see me in a swim suit?” I
felt my cheeks heat up, and looked away.

Rhet barked out a laugh, “
I'm not going to lie. That sounds great, but I really could just
use the warm water on my back. It's killing me.” He started rubbing
his shoulder and looked at me with the most adorable
expression.

“It really does sound
nice. Okay. I am going to help Tina a bit with our new menu idea,
but then I'll go get changed. Want to stop by my cabin
later?”

“Would you like some help
with the menu? I like to consider myself a food expert.” We stood
up together and he then pushed my chair back in for me, and sat
back down to finish the rest of his food. Such a
gentleman.

I smiled to myself and
told Rhet that sounded like a plan. I had a feeling I would
remember tonight for a very long time.

Chapter 7

Rhet was very helpful when
it came to the menu ideas, and when he said he was an expert in
food he wasn't joking. I was quite surprised how much he loved our
'Around the World' theme, because I figured most of the ranchers
here would oppose the idea of Chinese food being served, but Rhet
loved it. He even gave us some good ideas and said he would help
the next time we worked on it. It looks like it will be perfect for
our bachelors next week.

After we finished the menu
ideas, Rhet and I walked to our cabins to change into our
swimsuits. I ran over to my cabin and searched through my
collection. I had a few cute bikinis, but I was going in for the
kill tonight. Chloe had talked me into buying a one-piece swimsuit
that had the sides cut out. It was sexy, but not skanky. I had
fought her on it, but now I could give her a big ole wet kiss. I
slipped it on and checked out myself in the mirror. My workouts and
runs sure helped me stay in shape, and as much as I hated them -
seriously I hate running - it was necessary to keep my body in
shape. I looked killer if I do say so myself.

I piled my hair up in a
cute loose bun and grabbed a bath robe to throw on. I checked my
make-up and thought it was pointless, so I headed back outside.
Rhet was leaning against a post with his back towards
me.

“Let's do this!” I said
and grabbed his sides. He jumped and let out a little holler.
“Whoa, you are too easy to scare!” I laughed and looped my arm
through his.

“It figures I would hang
around people who get a thrill out of scaring others. It must just
be in your blood because Cole scares the shit out of me every
chance he gets. Even your dad gets an occasional scare in when I'm
in the barn. I'll get you guys back, just wait.” He chuckled and
dropped my arm so he could hold my hand.

“You really like to hold
hands.” I blushed and squeezed his hand in mine.

“Especially yours.” He
winked as we headed towards the pool. It was getting late, so I was
hoping there wouldn't be any other guests there.

“So this doesn't weird you
out at all?”

“What? You?” He questioned
with a confused look on his face.

“I mean me being Cole's
little sister.” I blushed and tried to let go of his
hand.

Rhet stopped walking and
turned me towards him. “Lexi, look at me. I am not weird about
anything. I told you, there is just something about you that I have
always been intrigued by. I mean, I have heard about you since you
were fifteen years old, but when you sent Cole a picture of you on
your first day of school at UCLA... I about fell over. You were the
most stunning women I had ever seen. I of course didn't say
anything to Cole because there was a chance he would punch me in
the face, but I just felt this attraction towards you. In the past
four years I have heard and watched you from a far. I know we have
never met until now, but I feel like I just know you. It was
confirmed when you walked through those barn doors, and of coarse
it helps you don't look a thing like your brother.” He reached up
and pressed a gentle stroke against my cheek.