Home For Christmas (A Copper Mountain Christmas) (8 page)

This was different. She was different.

Still he couldn't kiss her. Forget Rachel giving him a sign. He couldn't kiss her without betraying his friend.

Ty was the reason Nate was helping Rachel. Ty would not want Nate kissing his sister or her kissing anyone. Rachel was a desirable woman, but Nate couldn't jeopardize his friendship and working relationship with her brother.

Not for a kiss.

Nate let go of her hair and lowered her arm. "Don't tell me you're not a salesperson. You had a 100% close rate."

She tapped the toes of her boots as if wanting to dance except they were standing on a sidewalk and the only music was a bell ringing down the street. "I still can't believe it."

"You were impressive, sweetheart."

A honk sounded. He glanced over his shoulder. Driving down Main Street, a pick-up truck slowed. Brock Sheenan, a widowed rancher with a large spread in Paradise Valley, waved. Nate acknowledged his friend.

"Do you know everybody in Marietta?"

"It's a small town, and I grew up here. You see a lot of the same faces, though there are new ones." Nate thought he'd feel her out about Montana. "Like yours."

"I'm just here for Christmas."

Too soon. He'd back off. "We're glad to have you here for Christmas. And your gingerbread."

"You have a one-track mind."

"I know what I want." Operation: Hansel and Gretel was coming together faster than he'd anticipated. She would change her mind about staying in Marietta once she saw how much money she could make with her gingerbread. "Go after it."

"I thought that's what I'd been doing until today. I have a lot to learn."

"You're catching on fast." He motioned across the street to the Main Street Grill. "Hungry?"

"Yes, but Ty—"

"Can fend for himself." No cars were coming so he grabbed Rachel's hand and crossed the road. "You deserve a night off from cooking."

"I do, don't I?"

Nate opened the door to The Main Street Diner, the place where they'd started this afternoon. "After you."

She sashayed into the diner, overflowing with confidence and attitude. Yes, he was attracted, and damn if he hated not doing anything about it. Nate followed her inside.

The smell of basil and rosemary lingered on the air. Two men, realtor Tod Styles and deputy Scott Bliven, stared at Rachel with appreciative glances. She didn't notice the male attention. She seemed more interested in surveying the pictures and knickknacks hung on the brick walls.

That didn't deter the men.

Nate balled his hands. Looking wasn't against the rules. He'd been doing the same thing when he was with her, but the guys needed to stick their tongues back in their mouths and try to be subtle. No wonder Ty got upset if any of the wranglers mentioned Rachel outside the context of her cooking.

Feeling territorial, Nate moved closer to Rachel, so close his leg touched hers.

She stiffened.

"Making room for others." Except no one else was near the hostess stand waiting for a table.
Maybe she wouldn't notice. He liked the way she smelled—vanilla and sandalwood.

"The décor of this place is interesting," she said. "Welcoming."

Paige Joffe, the diner's new owner, a young widow from California, led them to a table. Her skirt swished around her black leather boots. "Welcome back. Ty's favorite is the Bison Burger with Parmesan fries, if your tastes are anything alike, Rachel. "

Nate pulled out Rachel's chair. "Annie was busy when we were here earlier. I haven't seen her in years. Is she working tonight?"

"She is. I'll send her over." Paige handed them menus then walked toward the kitchen.

"How is not seeing someone possible in a town this size?" Rachel asked.

"Annie's been living on the east coast for the last ten years or so." He sat across from Rachel. "She arrived around Thanksgiving time."

Rachel glanced over the menu before looking up with surprise. "Call me a city girl, but I expected variations on steak and eggs, not cedar-plank salmon with asparagus and couscous."

"I told you about assumptions being dangerous."

A blush spread across her cheeks. "I know."

"Marietta might be a small town, but we've got some real gems, including this place. You can count on great food and service."

"Compliments are always welcome here." Annie Prudhomme greeted them with a big smile. She placed glasses and a carafe of water on the table. "Good to see you, Nate. It's been a long time."

"Too long." Her blond hair had returned to its natural brown, the color he remembered her having in school. "I was talking to Carson about that yesterday."

Annie wrung her hands together. "You talked to Carson?"

Nate nodded. "How's it feel to be back in Marietta?"

"A little strange, but I'm adjusting."

Her troubled gray eyes contradicted her words. But Nate understood. Annie had been the one who couldn't wait to escape this small town. Being back would be difficult after living in New York. "How's the ranch?"

"The same." Her smile wavered slightly. She looked at Rachel. "Who's your friend?"

"Rachel Murphy," Nate introduced them. "She's new in town."

"I'm visiting my brother Ty for the holidays," Rachel clarified. "He works at the Bar V5."

Annie's gaze narrowed. "You're the gingerbread maker."

"How'd you know?" Rachel asked.

"I saw you speaking with Paige earlier, but I must have missed Nate." Annie glanced at the gingerbread house sitting on the hostess stand. "You do a wonderful job. Creative choice of colors and candy. Love the textures and details. The little white lights are the perfect accent. Sorry, I used to be an interior designer."

"Please, don't apologize," Rachel said. "I welcome compliments, too."

You're beautiful, smart and sexy as hell.
Probably not what she was looking for, Nate realized.

Annie leaned closer. "A few customers picked up order forms on their way out. I'm taking one. I know a kid named Evan who would have fun with a do-it-yourself kit."

"Thanks." Rachel sat taller in her seat. "Today seems to be my lucky day."

He was the lucky one. Rachel had such a great smile.

"Would you like to orders drinks while you look over the menu?" Annie asked.

With drink orders placed and a few minutes later, dinner ordered, Nate took a sip of his beer.

Rachel leaned forward. The neckline of her sweater gaped, giving him a peek of white lace and creamy skin.

That kind of looking would get him into trouble. He drank more.

"So do I get to hear the lowlights of your love story now?" she asked in a lighthearted tone.

Nate choked, nearly spewed beer all over the table, but managed to force the beer down. He wiped his mouth with his napkin. "I thought you forgot about that."

"Memory like an elephant's." She tapped the side of her head. "So…"

He hated this story as much as he hated living it. But he wanted her confidences. He would have to cough up his own. "Four years ago, I was living in Palo Alto. I had a great job, worked crazy hours and spent any free time with my girlfriend Marissa."

"Sounds like a perfect life."

"I thought so, until I got a call from your brother."

Her nose crinkled. "Ty?"

"Yeah, my dad's health and mind had deteriorated more than I knew. He was making bad decisions, crazy ones no one who knew about ranching would make. Ty was doing all he could, buying livestock and hay with his own money, but then he learned my dad had taken out loans using the ranch as collateral. No one knew where the money went. Ty asked me if he should look for an assisted living apartment for my parents because the debt was too deep. The bank was going to foreclose."

Rachel inhaled sharply. The glass of Pinot Noir her hand wobbled. She steadied it with her other palm. "That's horrible."

"Yeah." Nate stared into his beer, remembering the guilt and frustration he'd felt waiting to board his flight to Bozeman. "I arrived the next morning. By afternoon, I knew I'd have to move back to Montana and take my dad's place, and even that might not be enough to save the Bar V5."

"Here you go." Annie placed a cutting board with slices of bread and a dish of whipped butter in the center of the table. "I'll be back with your salads."

"Thanks." Rachel watched Annie walk away then looked at Nate. "Did Marissa stay in California?"

"No, she came to Montana." An image of a diamond in a platinum setting popped into his mind. "I wanted her to know I was serious about our relationship, so I proposed. She said yes. But the ranch was too remote and rugged for her tastes. She was ready to leave after three days."

"The Bar V5 isn't rugged." Rachel made a face like the thought was ridiculous before she sipped her wine. Adorable. She might call herself a city girl and think she belonged in the desert oasis of Phoenix, but deep inside her was a mountain and plain. Rugged was reserved for a cabin deep in the woods without power and indoor plumbing. The idea of getting her into one and under a pile of quilts…"

Don't go there.

"This was four years ago." He grabbed a slice of bread, bypassing the butter. Adjusted in his seat, his body thinking about being under those quilts with her. Forced himself back to the grim story about Marissa. "I've done significant remodeling. Added guest cabins. The ranch house is almost brand new. All the rooms have private baths. The mini-suites have fireplaces and king-sized beds."

Beds. He shifted again.

This wasn't a date, but he was desperate to touch his dinner companion. Consume. The contrast to Marissa was remarkable. She hadn't asked one question about the ranch beyond, "How much longer do we have to stay?"

"Your fiancée couldn't see the potential?"

"Not really." A new SUV and a credit card he paid for bought him three more weeks. "She broke up with me and flew back to the Bay Area before a month had passed."

"Her loss."

"Nice of you to say."

Rachel set her glass on the table then took a piece of bread. "It's the truth."

"I was sorry to see her go, but there was so much work to do and panic about losing the place, I didn't miss the stress. A month later, she asked me to come back to California, but that
was never going to happen. By then I loved the ranch more than her." If he'd even loved her at all. "Sorry if you were expecting sordid and all you got was boring."

Rachel lathered the piece with butter, not seeming to be worried about cholesterol or calories. He liked that.

"Boring is better sometimes."

"What about you?" Nate wanted to know more about her. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

She toyed with the napkin on her lap. "No."

His question made her uncomfortable. That intrigued him. "There's got to be more than to it than no."

Rachel shrugged. "My hours make dating anyone not in the food service industry difficult. Even then it's hard with a brother watching out for you, even from Montana. But I've gone out with a couple guys. The most recent was a sous chef."

"I bet you made beautiful meals together."

She half-laughed. "We did, until he met the restaurant owner's daughter and the two eloped to Laughlin, Nevada. He now has his own café."

"Financed by his father-in-law."

She nodded. "He wasn't stupid. I'm not, either. I turned down a job offer to work for him. But please don't tell Ty. He thinks I'm too young to date let alone have a serious relationship with yet another loser. His words, not mine, though he's been right."

"You're his younger sister. He feels protective."

She ate a bit of her bread then wiped her mouth. "I know, but not talking about dating makes things easier for both of us. He threatened to send me to a convent when I was seventeen."

Nate leaned forward, interested to hear the story behind that. "What'd you do?"

She straightened. Frowned. "What makes you think I did anything?"

"A convent isn't your typical boarding school for problem teens."

"Okay," she relented. "It wasn't that big a deal. I sneaked out on a few dates with a wrangler who worked with Ty at a guest ranch in Wickenburg."

"How old was this cowboy?"

Her cheeks reddened. "Nineteen. Maybe twenty."

Nate whistled. "Is the cowboy still able to walk?"

She nodded. "Ty punched him after he found out we kept dating after he told us to stop. I didn't feel too bad about that after I found out the guy had been cheating on me the entire time."

"Your brother must've had his hands full with you."

"Sometimes." She ran her finger along the stem of her wine glass. "But I was pretty good considering…"

Considering the way she lost her parents so young, she must've been a near angel. Some kids would have fallen apart. But she and Ty had gotten stronger. Another reason Nate admired them.

Another reason not to piss off his friend.