Lasso Her Heart

Erika laughed. “Not to worry, Bethany. Crackle…all the amenities…crackle…indoor plumbing and…crackle…breaking up…” The line went dead.

Bethany looked up and saw the signs for Midway airport. Cody took a side exit and drove directly up to a large hangar where a small jet waited.

In a flurry of activity, several men rushed around transferring the luggage from the car, driving the car away and ushering Bethany onto the plane. The man in charge assured her that they were cleared for takeoff and, once they left Chicago, the weather was crystal clear all the way.

“Where shall I sit?” Bethany asked, glancing around the small interior.

“Might as well sit up front,” the man replied. “That way Cody can point out the sights.”

“He flies the plane?”

“It’s his plane,” the man said as if that were an answer. He helped her climb into the incredibly close quarters of the cockpit. “You might want to take off your shoes—it’ll give you more legroom.”

“I’m fine,” she replied tightly. What was it with these people and her shoes?

The man nodded, handed her a headset and exited the plane. She watched as he conferred with Cody for several minutes, then took his leave—laughing, of course, at something the ever-cheerful Cody had said.

“Let’s rock and roll,” Cody said as he wedged his lanky frame into the pilot’s seat and fired the small jet to life.

“You’ve been doing this for a while?” Bethany shouted over the roar.

“Maiden voyage,” Cody replied deadpan and then he grinned at her stunned expression. “Relax. I’ve done over a thousand hours.”

“In English, please.”

“I’m an experienced pilot,” he replied and taxied slowly toward the runway.

As they climbed smoothly above the earth, Bethany could not help but be impressed by the view below. Cody pointed out landmarks and Bethany relaxed as she enjoyed this bird’s-eye view of the city. Maybe she could have a future in Chicago. The ranch was just temporary. Chicago was where Erika and Ian lived, where they had their life. She could deal with the ranch for a day or two, she decided and, as they left Chicago behind, she leaned her head against the window and fell sound asleep.

Cody had never met anyone as wired as Bethany Taft appeared to be. Anxiety and stress fairly oozed from her. It was as if she were fearful and certain at the same time that she would be blindsided by some unforeseen circumstance.

Not that he didn’t understand that—he’d had a sense of subliminal panic ever since the day he’d gotten the call about his brother’s accident. He couldn’t help but wonder what might cause that look for Bethany. He’d first noticed it when he’d mentioned the ranch. Further evidence could be found in the way she tried to control everything and everyone. He’d done that in the first months after Ty died until he realized that all it did was feed his panic. What if he made the wrong decision, the wrong choice, as he had the day Ty died?

He forced himself to silence his inner voice and concentrate on Bethany. He could see the glint of her cell phone, still clutched in one hand. The thing was like an extra arm or ear or something. Personally he’d never been able to understand the constant need to be in touch with the outside world. What kind of person needed that? He preferred those times when he wasn’t in touch with anything or anyone.

He hoped Erika knew what she was doing, asking this high maintenance, overreactive woman to take charge of the wedding. His father was anything but a snob. Still, there were certain expectations. Add to that the fact that Erika was nervous but also determined to make this the wedding of the decade in terms of surprises and memory-making events. Cody wasn’t at all sure the redhead was up to the job.

On the drive between airports, he had made some attempt to get better acquainted. But her answers had been pretty monosyllabic and she had repeatedly allowed the conversation to die. Okay, so she’d had a long day. Okay, so traveling on to Arizona had not exactly been on her radar. But she was maybe thirty, in great shape—except for her penchant for foot-destroying shoes—and should not be so thrown by a simple change in plans. And where was her joy for her aunt and the fun of planning a wedding for this woman who clearly adored her?

With each thought, Cody’s grip on the wheel tightened until the plane made a slight lurch, alerting him to what he was doing and waking his passenger.

“What?” she said, her eyes wide with fright as she peered out into the blackness of the night.

“Sorry about that.” He raised his voice above the constant drone of the engine. “We’re about twenty minutes out from Phoenix.”

She nodded and flipped open her phone. He reached over and flipped it closed. “Might interfere with communications from the tower,” he explained.

“I might have a message,” she explained.

“It’s waited this long,” he replied and left the rest unsaid.

She stuffed the phone into the pocket of her jacket. She glanced around the cockpit as if looking for something to do. She drummed her manicured nails on her knee then reached for her seat belt. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she announced.

Cody let go of the controls as he reached over to refasten her seat belt. “It’s waited this long,” he repeated with a grin and took some pleasure in realizing that up here, he was in charge, not Little Miss Cell Phone.

She squirmed in the seat.

“We’ll be on the ground in another twenty minutes,” he assured her and slowly turned the plane away from the lights of Phoenix toward the mountains.

“You’re going to circle?”

“Nope. I’m going to land this puppy.”

She glanced around wildly, twisting around to see the last of the lights and then leaning forward as a solid mass of mountains loomed larger and closer.

“Where?” she muttered and he read her lips.

He tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to a faint string of lighting at the base of the mountains. She looked at him wild-eyed as she clasped her hand over her mouth. For one terrible moment, he thought she might throw up.

“Bethany? Are you okay?”

She kept her fist jammed against her lips and stared straight ahead. As he banked the plane for the turn away from the mountains in preparation for his approach to the landing strip, she actually closed her eyes and planted her feet. It was clear that she thought they were about to crash. Cody was insulted. He straightened the plane’s course and started the descent to the landing strip below, then tapped her on the shoulder and indicated the view of the ground rushing up to meet the landing gear.

He could see Erika and his father standing next to the golf cart used for moving between buildings on the large ranch. How would they fit all the baggage and three people on one little cart? But he was relieved to see them. It meant that he was free of hosting duties for the evening. He taxied to the hangar, cut the engine and in the sudden silence reached over and unsnapped her seat belt.

“Bathroom is just inside the front door of the house—if it’s not too late.”

“You scared me,” she protested as he climbed out of his seat and prepared to open the exit door. Her tone left no doubt that she thought he had done it deliberately.

“Ma’am, I was just flying the plane. You’re the one who decided to panic for no good reason.” He shoved the door open releasing the short flight of stairs and did not wait for her to go first.

Bethany took a moment to digest the fact that this cowboy son of her aunt’s fiancé had just left her to crawl out of the cockpit on her own. Any gentleman would have helped her out—she was practically family, after all. Exactly who did he think she was? Some hired help brought in to manage the wedding?

“Bethany, dear.”

Erika stood at the door of the aircraft, smiling uncertainly. “Is everything all right? Oh, I told Ian we should let you take a commercial flight tomorrow but he wouldn’t hear of it. Waste of money, he said, since Cody was coming back anyway.”

Bethany climbed out of the cockpit and bent to keep from hitting her head as she followed her aunt out of the plane. “I’m fine,” she assured Erika, then mustered her last ounce of enthusiasm and gushed, “Chicago—now Phoenix—what an adventure.”

Erika grinned with obvious relief. “It’s called my life these days,” she said happily. “Come meet Ian.”

Ian was not as tall or hard-muscled as his son but he was every bit as handsome. They had the same eyes and the same smile—or at least she thought she recalled that smile from when she had first seen Cody holding that ridiculous sign. His smile and cheery outlook had definitely wavered as the evening went on. And was she being overly sensitive or had the man implied that this was somehow her fault?

“So this is Bethany,” Ian said as he held out his arms inviting a hug. “You know, I’ve been telling Erika that it’s time I met her family since she’s already passed muster with all of mine. Welcome to Daybreak Ranch, Bethany.”

Bethany smiled and accepted the hug.

“Where did Cody go?” Erika wondered as the three of them headed for the golf cart.