He reached out and took her hand. “I know we’ve only been here a half hour, but I’m worried about the weather and some things I haven’t taken care of at the ranch. Would you mind if we finished this beer and headed back?”
“Not at all. I’ve got work tomorrow and I’m tired. I’m not used to fighting with you.”
“I hate fighting with you, but let’s face it, we’re not going to always see eye to eye, and I like that you can hold your own with me. Don’t ever feel like you can’t be yourself. I don’t expect you to be a parrot. I can be tough, and blunt, and sometimes difficult to please, but that’s not on you. That’s on me. It’s not your job to make me happy. It’s my job to make me happy. Got it?”
She leaned across the table and kissed him. “Got it. Now let’s go home.”
*
Sophie shivered as they walked quickly back to his truck, the icy whistling wind pushing them forward. “It’s freezing,” she said, teeth chattering. “And just two days ago it was really warm.”
“Montana weather for you,” Joe said, unlocking the truck.
She glanced up at the sky, squinting as if she could read something in the darkness before hopping into the truck. “Can you imagine the poor couple getting married tomorrow? You’d think it’s winter again.”
“Montanans expect bad weather. The good weather is a gift.” As he reversed out of the angled spot and then shifted into drive, he glanced at her. “And you’re a gift.”
For a moment, Sophie didn’t know what to say. “Thank you.”
“I mean it. I’m glad you’re here, and I hope you’re happy—”
“I am, Joe, and I know it’s all still new and we’re both adjusting, but considering its only been a month since I arrived, I think we’re doing well.”
“I hope so.”
She cocked her head. “You have doubts?”
“I just know how much warmth you’ve brought to the ranch. Everything is just brighter, more hopeful. I’m more hopeful—”
“Good!” She leaned across the console and kissed his cheek. “That makes me happy.”
“We need you, Sophie.” His voice dropped. “I need you.”
“Well, you have me.”
“Not all of you,” he said, shooting her a look, his blue gaze intense. “But hopefully, soon.”
*
The house was dark when they arrived, and Mrs. Wyatt and Granddad were in bed. Even the dogs were too tired to get up and bark. Thankfully, the kitchen was still warm, and Sophie hung up her coat, and headed to the stove to put on the teakettle. “I’m going to make a cup of tea to take to bed with me. Want one?”
He shook his head. “I’d rather take you to bed with me.”
“We could,” she said, reaching for a mug. “If it made you feel better.” She knew immediately that wasn’t the right thing to say. Joe’s jaw hardened and his brow furrowed. “Sorry, that didn’t come out quite the way I meant it.”
“How did you mean it? Because everything you do turns me on and yet I get the feeling that you’re not sure about me.”
Suddenly, there was a spike in tension and Sophie only had herself to blame. “Sex is just going to be weird for me the first time. Maybe I shouldn’t say it that way, but you’re going to be the first person I’ve been with since Leo—”
“Oh, how I hate Leo.”
“Joe!”
“Just saying.”
“And before Leo, there wasn’t anyone else. He was my first. I don’t really have a lot of experience beyond Leo, and therefore not a lot of confidence—”
“Let’s just hope I don’t ever meet him. I’d—”
“No,” she said, cutting him off before he could say anything incriminating. “Leo’s not worth your time or energy. You don’t have to hate him. I don’t hate Charity.”
“Totally different situation.”
“How?”
“First of all, Charity was always honest with me. I knew when we started dating that she was someone raised in town, who loved living in town. Not everyone’s cut out for the ranch life, and she wasn’t.”
“But you guys got serious.”
“Yes, and for a long time we tried to make it work, but in the end, she wouldn’t have been happy on the ranch, and we both knew it. It would have been too lonely for her, too removed from her family and friends.”
“Even with your mom here?” Sophie asked.
“Yes,” he said simply. “I hated letting her go, but it was the right thing to do.”
“Did you ever get back together?”
“Many times, but then we’d break up again, and each breakup got harder. Each goodbye hurt more. During our final breakup we agreed to never call, email, or reach out to the other again. We vowed to never see each other again. And that was the end of it. Finally.”
The heaviness in his voice made her ache for him. “That had to have been hard.”
“Beyond hard.”
“And then when you decided you needed to move on, you vowed not to fall in love again, didn’t you?”
He shot her a sharp glance. “I vowed to find someone more independent, more self-sufficient. Someone who could be happy here. And I found you.”
“Through an ad.”
“But it worked.”
“We were both trying to be practical,” she said, using a hot pad to remove the whistling teakettle from the burner. “We wanted a mature, businesslike arrangement. No emotions involved.”
“Not sure we’ve been successful there. I’m finding it next to impossible not to feel things for you.”
Sophie lifted her head, looked at him. “Is that so?”
“You know it’s so. I can’t keep my hands off of you.”
She held her smile, but inwardly her heart sank a little. He wanted her body. She wanted his heart. This definitely was more complicated than she’d imagined, because sex and love weren’t the same thing, but hopefully physical need could lead to other things… like love.
Hopefully.
“It’s late,” Joe said suppressing a yawn. “I’m going to be up early tomorrow. I suppose we should call it a night.”
Sophie picked up her steaming mug and Joe turned out the kitchen light. On the second floor outside Sophie’s room, Joe said, “Sunday it’ll be two weeks until wedding number two. We will survive until then?”
“I think so.” She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him, careful not to slosh her tea. “Good night, Joe.”
“Good night, Sophie. Sleep tight.”
*
Sophie didn’t see Joe Saturday morning before she headed into town to work. The weather had turned in the night, temperatures plummeting even lower. It began to rain as she drove down the mountain, and halfway down, the rain turned to a slushy sleet. She turned her windshield wipers up and cranked on her heater. It had been beautiful two days ago and now it felt like winter.
By noon, the rain turned to snow, and Sophie watched the fat flakes fall, jaw dropping in awe. She went to the big window in the salon to watch the snow tumble from the sky. It was beyond beautiful. She’d never lived anyplace where it snowed.