Mason (Remington Ranch Book 1) (Contemporary Western Romance) (18 page)

“I'm saying she hasn't had time to catch up, but you need to do the same. You need to catch up with who she's become. You need to make sure that you still love who she is now. You've always wanted her back. Wanted to get back what the two of you had. I've got news for you--that's just not possible. And if you try to recreate what you had and treat her like the girl she was, you're setting yourself up for a whole world of hurt.”

“But...I'm not...I...”

Chance shrugged. “Just think on it.” With that he made his way to the bathroom and soon Mason heard the shower running.

He sat there staring at the wall. Chance was right, of course. He couldn't just pick up where they'd left off and expect everything to be the same. They were both different people now. He knew one thing that hadn't changed. He was still an impatient man. He didn't like waiting around in any situation, and he liked it even less when he saw a solution that he could be getting on with.

He started when his phone rang in his pocket. He was surprised to see Al's name displayed on the screen.

“Al! Is everything okay?”

“No worries here, son. I was calling to ask you the same thing.”

Mason smiled. “I think so. We finally cleared the air between us.”

“I'm glad. So have you got any good news coming for me?”

“Not yet, but I'm working on it.”

“Well, can you hurry it up? She won't promise me that I don't have to move out of here yet!”

“I’m working on it. I can only hurry it so much, Al. It's up to Gina more than me.”

“Jesus! She got you whipped already, has she?”

Mason scowled at that. Gina wasn't dictating how things went. He was just giving her time. That was all. Wasn't it?

Al's laugh sounded raspy. “I'm just giving you shit, Mason. You'd better get used to it, seeing as we're going to be family soon. Aren't we?”

That made Mason smile again. “I hope so.”

“That's all I wanted to know. I'll leave you in peace then.” Al hung up.

Mason got a cold beer from the fridge and took it to sit out on the back porch. He and Al
would
soon be family, wouldn't they? In his mind, it was a given that he and Gina would get married. He started to worry whether she thought so, too. But if she did, why wouldn't she let him help with the money for the ranch?

Mason was edgy on Sunday morning. Gina still wouldn't hear of him helping her out financially, and it was starting to get to him. It seemed she spent most of her time with Cassidy, figuring out whatever it was they were going to do together. To Mason, it seemed as though they were most focused on going on their little jaunt to New York. He didn't understand why she even felt the need to go anymore.

As he made his way up to the main house, he saw Beau's SUV coming up the driveway. At least that made him smile. Beau came out to the ranch even less than Carter did these days. He wouldn't miss their mom’s birthday for the world though. None of them would. Mason gave himself a mental shake. That was what he needed to focus on today, his mom's party. Now Beau was here, the five of them would be able to pitch in on all the work that needed to be done to get the place ready. Guests were supposed to arrive at three, but some would be early, they always were. Mason wanted to have everything set up by two at the latest. He made his way out front to greet his brother.

“How's it going?” asked Beau.

“Pretty good. Shane's started setting up the tables out back and Carter's in the kitchen.”

Beau laughed. “Carter's always in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, but this time he's prepping food instead of eating it.” Carter's appetite was a standing joke amongst the brothers.

“I'd put my money on him eating at least half as much as he prepares.”

“Probably, but from the amount he brought in, there should still be more than enough to feed the whole valley, and I think only half the valley is coming.”

Beau nodded. “Want me to get the bar set up?”

“You can give me a hand stringing the lights on the back deck. Chance is already working on the bar.” He didn't miss his brother's scowl at that piece of information. “Let it go, bro. I don't know why you still have a problem with him. He's one of us.”

Beau glared at him. “He isn't one of us though, is he? You, me, Carter, Shane, we're brothers. Chance isn't. I know the two of you are close. I know Dad sees him as one of his own, but I don't know why. He's not family.”

Mason sighed. He didn't want to get into this one today. Beau had had a problem with Chance since he first came to the ranch. Mason had to admit he had been a little wary of Chance back then as well. Their dad had met him through a youth rehabilitation project. He'd been a volunteer, working with kids who'd been in prison. He'd seen something in Chance and wanted to give him the opportunity to get his life back on track. He'd brought Chance home with him and given him a job working the cattle, even though he knew nothing at all about ranching. He'd given him a place to live in the cabin that Mason and Shane now shared with him. Mason admired his dad's kindness and generosity. He and Chance had soon come to be the best of friends. Shane had accepted Chance as another big brother fairly quickly. As far as Mason and Shane were concerned, he was a fifth brother. Carter liked Chance, but wasn't as close to him. He’d been caught up in his own life and was more of a loner. Beau was the only one who had a problem. As the second eldest, he'd been competitive as a kid. He'd always pushed himself to try to prove his worth and, Mason guessed, to win their dad's approval. He'd resented Chance from the day he arrived and didn't seem prepared to let it go. “Let's not go there, huh? Not today. Today's about Mom and making sure she enjoys her birthday, right?”

Beau nodded. “Right.” He smiled. “So let's go get these lights strung. And while we're doing it, you can catch me up on what's been going on with you and Gina. Why's her dad's place still showing on the listings? I thought she'd have taken it off the market by now. She is staying, right?”

Mason rolled his eyes. “She is, and if it were up to me, it would be off the market by now.”

Beau gave him an inquiring look. “But?”

“But she wants to take care of it herself.” He shrugged. “I guess it's just a matter of time while she figures things out, but I'm not a patient man.”

Beau laughed at that. “Sounds like you're going to have to be on this one. You can't force her hand.”

“I know, but we already lost ten years. I don't want to lose anymore. I just want to get on with making up for it. I want to hurry up and start living the life we've missed out on.”

“You will, but don't let your impatience screw things up, okay?”

Mason nodded reluctantly. “I'm trying. Anyway, enough about me. What's going on with you?”

Beau shrugged. “Same old, same old. The market's picking up and with spring around the corner I'm expecting we'll get busy with new listings and out-of-staters starting to look for vacation homes.” Beau had sat for his realtor's license as soon as he came back from college. He'd done very well for himself and owned his own real estate brokerage. Unlike most of the realtors in the area, he worked the whole market. He sold multi-million dollar estates on the river, and he sold condos and tiny cottages in town. Everyone had thought he'd made a big mistake a few years back when he'd bought an entire section of land just outside the city limits. His plan was to build a new subdivision, but market conditions had never been right. Mason didn't know much about real estate, but he did know that Beau would make a huge profit on that investment someday. Where he was impatient and occasionally impetuous, Beau was patient and shrewd.

“Well do me a favor and don't go showing the Delaney place to anyone, would you? If Gina
does
have to sell, I plan on buying it myself.”

“You do?”

He nodded. He did. No matter what Gina had to say about it.

~ ~ ~

Gina let herself back into Cassidy's kitchen. They'd had a great morning baking together. She was glad she'd persuaded Cassidy to come to Monique's birthday party. She didn't seem to know many people yet and, although she insisted that she liked it that way, Gina wanted her to show her face in the community. She knew her dad would love Cassidy, and she also had the ulterior motive of getting her in the same room as Shane again. She wanted the two of them to talk about ways they could market to Shane's dude ranch guests. More than that, she wanted to see how long Cassidy would be able to resist Shane's charms—or whether Shane would be able to summon said charms or would go all tongue-tied around Cassidy again. Gina was fairly sure sparks would fly between the two of them at some point, she just wanted to hurry the process along.

Cassidy was pulling two huge pies from the fridge. “I'll take these in my car, shall I?”

“Oh, aren't you riding with me?”

“No, thank you very much. I'm not stupid, Gina. I know what you're up to, and I want my trusty car at the ready so I can make a quick getaway whenever I want to.”

Gina feigned innocence. “What do you think I'm up to? I'm just trying to introduce you to your neighbors and maybe make some connections that will be useful to us. Why would you need a getaway?”

Cassidy scowled at her. “You're hoping that if you leave me alone with Shane, I'll start to see why you love him so much. Sorry, but it's not happening. I already told you. I came here to get away from man messes, not to make another one.”

Gina shrugged. “Okay, I'll admit I'm hopeful, but you don't need to bring your car. I promise I'll bring you back whenever you're ready to leave.”

“Thanks, but I'd sooner drive myself.”

“Okay, do you want to follow me over to pick my dad up, then?”

“Yep, just let me load these up and I'll be right behind you.”

The party was in full swing by the time they got there. Crowds of people milled around in front of the main house. Carter was working the grill out on the porch and waved when he saw Gina. She waved back and turned to look for her dad and Cassidy. To her amusement, her dad had announced he was going to ride with Cassidy and get to know her on the way over. She saw them, arm in arm making their way down the long line of parked cars. Cassidy said something that made him laugh and Gina had to laugh herself as she watched them. It was so good to see her dad looking happy and sprightlier than he had in years. She was hoping that her working with Cassidy would give him a new lease on life, too.

He grinned at her. “I'm going to say happy birthday to Monique and leave you girls to it. Cassidy here doesn't trust me to carry nothing.” He squeezed Cassidy's arm before he let go of it. “She's a smart one, this new partner of yours.”

“It's not that I don't trust you, Al. I just think you should get to the party as quickly as you can. It looks like your friends are up on the porch and I can only see two empty seats. I thought you might want to go claim one.”

Al squinted up at the front porch, then turned back to Cassidy with a scowl on his face. “All I see up on that porch is a bunch of old farts. What are you trying to say?”

Cassidy didn't miss a beat, she pointed out past the garage to where a group of youngsters was standing around. “That I don't think you'd have too much fun with them, even if your hip could take it, so you’ll probably want to go grab a seat with the old farts, while you can.”

Gina loved the way her dad laughed at that. Cassidy wasn't going to take any of his crap, and it seemed the two of them were already forming a bond of their own. It looked as though everything was coming together. She had a new friend in Cassidy and was getting her old friends back. Her dad was happier than she'd seen him in years. She and Mason were back together even though they had yet to figure out what their future would hold. She didn't want him trying to solve her financial problems for her. It was important that she do that herself, both for the sake of her own pride and for the sake of the kind of relationship she wanted to build with him. She'd almost reconciled herself to accepting Cassidy's offer to help her out until they started making good money. As she had said, that wasn't charity, it was simply business sense.

“He's an absolute sweetheart!” said Cassidy as they watched Al make his way up onto the porch.

Gina laughed “He's an old grouch, but I think he's taken a shine to you.”

“I've taken a shine to him, too.”

“And here comes another one who's taken a shine to you.” Gina saw Shane's face light up when he spotted her and Cassidy.

“Uh oh. Hadn't we better get these pies and cakes to whoever is in charge of the kitchen?”

Before Gina could reply, Cassidy was heading back to her car to collect the goodies they'd brought. She was tickled that Cassidy's usual confidence and composure seemed to evaporate as she stuck her head in the trunk at Shane's approach.

He hugged Gina and then addressed himself to Cassidy's butt. “Hey, it's good to see you again.”

Gina had to stifle a giggle as Cassidy straightened up and bumped her head. She whirled around. “I wish I could say the same.”

“Then why don't you?”

She scowled. “Because I'm not a liar.”

Gina was surprised to see the disappointment that flashed in Shane's eyes for a moment. Normally everything was a joke to him. If he got the brush-off, he didn't care. He moved on. He certainly didn't stick around for more. It seemed he was a glutton for punishment where Cassidy was concerned.

Cassidy straightened up and glared at Shane. “I don't know how many times or how many ways I need to tell you before it sinks in. I'm not interested, Shane.”

Shane recovered quickly and grinned. “That's only because you don't know me yet. I'm trying to rectify that situation. So, how about we let Gina take that stuff inside and you come let me get you a drink?”

“No, thank you.” She looked at Gina. “Shall we?”

Gina gave Shane a sympathetic shrug. “I guess we'll see you later.”

Shane shot Cassidy a rueful smile. “Not if you see me first, right?”

There was the tiniest hint of a smile on her face when she replied. “You got
that
right.”

Gina led the way up to the kitchen. “You're not even going to give him a chance?” She had a feeling Cassidy's resolve might be fading a little.

“I doubt it. I figure if I brush him off a few more times he'll get bored and target someone else.”

Gina would normally have agreed, but she hadn't seen Shane like this before. “And if he doesn't?”

Cassidy almost smiled as she replied. “If he doesn't, then we'll see about that, won't we?”

“Hey, babe.”

Gina didn't have time to consider Cassidy's answer before Mason was taking the cake tins from her and planting a kiss on her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. It felt right and familiar, yet new and exciting all at the same time. Mason wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. “Hey. It looks like a good turnout. Is everything going okay?”

Mason nodded. “Everything's great. Most importantly, Mom’s having a wonderful time. She's holding court in the kitchen right now. You should probably go say hi, she’s been asking about you.”

“We were on our way there.”

Mason looked up. “Oh, hi Cassidy. Sorry.”

Cassidy laughed. “That's okay. Why would you notice me when you've got Gina?”

Mason shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. I'll let you both go and do the women's stuff.” He landed another kiss on Gina's lips. “I'll be with Carter on the grill when you get done.”

Gina watched him walk away, hoping that she'd be able to get him to herself for a while later. He was looking absolutely breathtaking, and they had a lot of making up to do.