Sarah approached Amber on
Saturday afternoon. “Will you stand up with me for our wedding?
It’s just going to be a short ceremony in Vegas, but I want you
there.”
Amber squealed and hugged
her friend. “Of course, I want to be there with you!”
The two couples spent the
night in Las Vegas before flying home. On the trip home from Vegas,
Justin and Sarah were so absorbed in one another Amber felt a
little uncomfortable. She knew that’s how Cody wanted to be with
her, but she couldn’t bring herself to act that way.
Once they were in the
truck on the way back to her ranch, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m not sure I could have watched them much longer.”
Cody laughed. “I
understand. It was getting pretty intense in there.” He reached
over and took her hand as he drove. “What did you think of
Vegas?”
Amber shrugged. “It was
fine. I hate gambling, so it was a little weird, but the wedding
was fun. It was cool they got to get married by Elvis.” She was
surprised by how emotional she’d been at the wedding. With it being
an elopement, she hadn’t expected to go through the tears she
usually did at a wedding, but she had.
“I can’t believe Justin
agreed to that. I would have thought of the three of us, I’d be the
one getting married by Elvis. Justin and Sarah just don’t seem like
the couple you’d see marry that way.”
“I agree. You? I could see
you getting married by a space alien, but Justin and Sarah are more
the quiet little church where Sarah has attended all of her life
types.”
“You want to get married
by a space alien?”
“Not particularly. I’m
more of a get married on horseback on my own ranch
type.”
“That could be
fun!”
She eyed him skeptically.
“What if I said I wanted to wear a long white dress and get married
on a beach somewhere?”
“I’d do that!”
“What if I want to get
married while sky-diving?”
“Okay!”
She sighed. “You’d agree
to anything wouldn’t you?”
“As long as it meant I got
to marry you, I would!”
She sighed staring out the
window into the darkness. “No pressure, right?”
He shook his head. “No
pressure.” He squeezed the hand he was holding as he pulled into
her driveway. “I said I wouldn’t pressure you, and I won’t, no
matter how much I want to!” He put the truck in park and pulled her
into his arms. “I hate to return to reality.”
“Me too. The whole week
was magical, and I’m so glad you invited me.” She rested her head
on his shoulder hating that it was over. Now she had to find a way
to get everything she needed to do done, and still have Cody in her
life. “I’m not going to have a lot of time for you now, you
know.”
He nodded. “I’m living for
the day your brother comes home.”
She smiled. “Me too.” She
had a huge day ahead of her and she knew Tanya was still there
because her car was parked out front. “I wish I could invite you
in, but it’s late, and I think my student is spending the night
here again.”
“Okay.” He was
disappointed, but understood. “I’ll see you in the morning for my
lesson.”
She leaned up to kiss him
on the cheek. “I’ll be here.”
He watched her as she ran
up to the house, determined he’d respect her by giving her the
space she needed. He needed her in his life, and if by backing off,
he could keep her, he’d back off.
Chapter Eight
Her life settled into its
familiar routine with one interesting addition. Cody was there as
soon as it turned dark most evenings, and stayed until it was time
for her to go to bed. She didn’t feel comfortable with Adam seeing
his car parked there overnight, so he slept at his own
house.
One night in mid-May he
brought the ingredients to cook a meal for her and slipped into the
house while she was still with her students. She saw his truck pull
up as she worked with, Kaitlyn, an eight year old girl on her
riding technique. Kaitlyn was determined she was going to spend her
life racing horses. She reminded Amber a lot of herself when she
was her age.
Amber wondered why Cody
was there when he knew she had another couple of hours with
students, but she couldn’t go ask, so she continued her
work.
After her last student was
gone for the evening, she checked over each of the horses and
walked to the house, wondering what she’d find when she
arrived.
She walked in and saw the
entire house was filled with lit candles. Cody was in the kitchen
wearing a chef’s hat and a huge white apron. The whole kitchen
smelled of the spice she thought of as Mexican food. “Whatcha
makin’?” She leaned over his shoulder to peek into the huge pot he
was stirring.
“We have fifteen minutes
until it’s ready. Go get cleaned up.” He made a shooing motion with
his hand.
“Okay, but don’t start
without me!” She rushed out of the kitchen and upstairs to her
bedroom. Going straight into the bathroom, she took a quick shower.
She dressed in a pair of old sweat pants and a tee-shirt, before
going back to the kitchen where he was putting bowls of soup onto
the table.
“What did I do to deserve
this?” she asked with a grin.
Smiling at her, he slipped
into the chair across from her and picked up his spoon. “You said
Mexican was your favorite, so that’s what I made. We’re starting
with tortilla soup.”
She picked up her spoon
and took a bite, closing her eyes at the explosion of flavor on her
tongue. “This is fabulous! I’ve always loved tortilla
soup.”
“I think when I get sick
of being a billionaire I’m going to open a restaurant.”
“When you get sick of
being a billionaire? How long do you think that’s going to take
you?”
“Oh, not more than a few
thousand years.” He took a bite of his soup. “How was work
today?”
“Good. The twins didn’t
cry for the first time ever,” she said, referring to the five year
old twin girls who had been taking lessons for a month. She’d
talked to him about all of her students in the months since they’d
started dating.
He shook his head. “I
can’t figure out why their parents are making them take lessons
when they’re afraid of horses.”
“I really couldn’t tell
you, but they pay me well, so I just don’t complain. Their mom had
an errand to run today, and they did so much better without her
there.”
When they had both
finished their bowls of soup, Cody stood up and went to get the
next course. He’d made chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce,
refried beans and Spanish rice. After setting their plates on the
table, he sat back down and picked up his fork.
She took a bite of the
refried beans and smiled. “You actually boiled the beans and
everything, didn’t you?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“What else would I have done?”
“Opened a can and warmed
up the contents. These are better, though.” She reached across the
table and squeezed his hand. “Thanks for making me dinner tonight.
It was nice not to have to try to figure out what I was going to
warm up.”
He laughed. “You know, you
could use your crockpot, and never have to eat another TV dinner
again.”
“That would require
thought. I’d have to think about what I wanted to cook, buy the
ingredients, and actually put the food in to cook before I went to
work. Much easier to let the shelf in the grocery store freezer do
the work for me. I just have to nuke it.”
“But it doesn’t taste
nearly as good!”
“Well, if you’re the one
doing the real cooking it doesn’t taste as good. If it’s me, we’re
better off letting Marie Callender do the cooking.”
“Are you ever going to
learn to cook?”
She shrugged. “Why should
I? I have a grocery store, and now that I know you cook like this,
I have you. Why would I bother?”
He stood and cleared their
plates, slipping them into the dishwasher. “I made a key lime pie
for dessert. I know it’s not Mexican, but it sounded
good.”
Her eyes lit up. “Key lime
pie? From scratch?”
“It’s the only way I
cook.” He pulled a pie tin from the fridge and cut two large pieces
placing them on plates. He set them on the table and sat back down.
“So when is your brother coming home?”
“I’m driving down to
College Station for his graduation this weekend.”
“Want some
company?”
She thought about it for a
moment. If he went with her, it would be an announcement to her
brother that she and Cody were serious. Did she want that? Well, as
far as she was concerned they
were
serious. He was the first man she’d ever let get
close to her. “Yeah, that’d be nice. The graduation is Saturday
afternoon, so I’ll leave here first thing on Saturday
morning.”
She’d paid the last
payment on the mortgage a month earlier than planned thanks to
hiring Tanya on. She didn’t have to turn students away anymore, so
she was making more money than she could make by herself, and she
was able to reinvest some of the money into the ranch.
“Are you excited about
having Bryan home?”
“Yes, and no. I’m excited
that he’s graduating and taking over the ranch. Running this place
was never my forte. I’m not happy to give up my privacy, though.”
Yes, she was an adult, but she wouldn’t feel comfortable openly
sleeping with Cody in her house with her brother at
home.
“What time should I pick
you up Saturday morning?”
“I’m going to need to
leave here by seven. The ceremony is at two, but it’s a five and a
half hour drive, and I’ll need to eat before the graduation
starts.”
“I’ll be here a few
minutes before seven then.” He forked up his last bite of pie. “Are
you moving him back?”
She noticed he was
finished, so she stood and put both of their plates into the
dishwasher. “No, he has his own truck. He moved down there before
his freshman year and has barely been home since. He loves college
life.”
“Is he moving back this
weekend then?”
“Yeah. He’s ready to come
home and take over here.”
“What about the riding
business? That’s still yours, right?”
“Technically it comes
under the heading of the ranch, but I’ll still run it. I’ll pay
myself a salary from it, but most of the profits will still go back
into the ranch. We should be able to take on ranch hands again
within the year.” She leaned against the counter looking at him.
“I’m really glad I got everything I was planning done before he
came home. With two men working the ranch, we can have more cattle.
We have the money saved to buy them. It’s going to be a good year
for us.”
She looked around the
kitchen and realized he’d kept everything clean as he cooked. When
she attempted to cook, the kitchen became a disaster area. They
just needed to run the dishwasher, so she added soap and turned the
knob to start it. “It’s going to be a while before your pots are
ready to be taken home.” She walked over to him and sat on his lap,
straddling him. “Any ideas on how we can pass the time?”
He tilted his head to the
side as if thinking seriously about the question. “I guess we could
go catch the Rangers game.”
She shook her head,
running her tongue along his lips to catch a stray bit of graham
cracker crust. “Not what I had in mind. Any other
ideas?”
His hands settled on her
hips and pulled her closer into him. “Let me think. We could go for
a ride?”
She pressed her lips to
his. “How bout we go upstairs and I show you my
collection.”
“What collection?” He
pushed her off his lap and let her lead him up the
stairs.
“I’ll figure something out
before we get there.” She laughed, leading him into her bedroom and
pushing him down on the bed.
Chapter Nine
Cody and Amber met Bryan
for lunch on Saturday before the graduation ceremony. “Are you
ready to be done?” Amber asked her brother.
Bryan shrugged. “Kind of.
I mean, I’ve loved being here. Living in the frat house has been
great, and I’ve made a lot of good friends. But I’m ready to go
home and be on my ranch again.” He took a bite of his salad. “I’m
ready to implement some of the things I’ve learned
here.”
“Just make sure you’re not
acting like Adam doesn’t know anything. He’s kept the ranch going
for years.”
Bryan nodded. “I know,
Sis. I wouldn’t do that to him.” He eyed Cody. “How long have you
been dating my sister?”
“Since early
February.”
Bryan tilted his head to
the side. “Why are you so familiar to me? Your name is familiar
too.”
Cody half grinned. Sports
fans tended to know who he was, even if people like Amber were
clueless about him. “Sports Prognosticators
Incorporated.”
Bryan’s eyes widened.
“You’re
that
Cody
Larson?” The shock on her brother’s face, had Amber biting her lip
to keep from laughing out loud. “But….you’re one of the richest men
in Texas!”