Have Honeymoon, Need Husband

The large woman patted Josie’s back consolingly. “There, there, dear. You don’t have to explain. But you come and find Consuela if you want to chew the cat, okay?”

Josie blinked. “Pardon me?”

“She means chew the fat.” Luke grinned.

Consuela shrugged. “Cat—fat—it makes no sense either way. But you come to me if you want to talk, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Enjoy. ¡Buenos Noches!” The large woman let herself out the door with a wave of her hand.

The room seemed suddenly very still and quiet. Luke awkwardly settled his large frame in the chair across from Josie.

“It all looks delicious,” she remarked, surveying the spread of Caesar salad, prime beef, scalloped potatoes and baby carrots.

“Consuela’s a wonderful cook. She and her husband have been with my family for over twenty-five years.” Luke gave a wry grin. “She takes a lot of liberties with the English language—and with poking her nose in other people’s business.”

“She seems very kind.”

Luke inclined his head. “She is. My mother died when I was twelve, and she practically raised me afterward.” He set the bottle of champagne on the table. “She’s right about being a good listener. If you get lonely and want to talk, you should take her up on her offer.” He regarded Josie in the flickering candlelight. Her profile was delicate, almost fragile. Looking at it, he felt another stab of guilt at the way he’d exploded at her in the barn. It couldn’t hurt for him to take a hint from Consuela and show a little sympathy. “For that matter, I can be a pretty good listener, too.”

Josie reached for her napkin. “I’m okay. I’m actually relieved the wedding was called off.”

Yeah, right. And he was going to sprout wings and fly. He’d seen denial before; in fact, he’d been in it himself. It was the first stage of the grieving process, and it was obviously where she was right now.

“I’m not heartbroken. I don’t even really feel hurt.” She placed the napkin her on her lap. “I’m angry…mostly at myself. How could I have been so blind?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Well, you know what they say about love.”

Josie leaned across the table, her face earnest. “That’s just it. I didn’t love him.”

Boy, she must really be hurting if she needed to lie to herself like this. Well, he wasn’t going to burst her bubble. Let her think whatever she wanted—whatever it took to get her through the night.

The thought made him reach for the champagne. “I’m sure everything will work out for the best.” He popped the cork and sent it flying across the room, narrowly missing the fireplace, then sloshed some into Josie’s glass. He filled his own and raised it in a toast “To new beginnings.”

Josie clinked her glass against his. “To a wonderful week at your ranch.”

Luke frowned at her over the rim. Baby-sitting her tonight was one thing; doing it for a whole week was quite another. “Let’s wait and see how you feel about things tomorrow.”

“I already know how I’ll feel…exactly the same.” She took a sip of champagne. “I’ve wanted to visit a guest ranch all my. life, and I’m not going to be cheated out of the experience just because Robert turned out to be a heel.”

Luke’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You’re the one who selected the Lazy O as a honeymoon destination?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a first.”

Josie’s brow knit in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Luke stabbed a bite of salad. “Most of the brides we see are dragged here kicking and screaming by a new husband who’s watched one too many Westerns. After a couple of days, even the ones who initially think it sounded like fun are asking directions to the nearest mall.”

Josie daintily buttered a roll. “I’ve always thought a ranch was the most romantic place on earth.”

Luke’s lip curved into a grin. “You’ve obviously never mucked out a stall.”

Josie laughed. “Actually, I have. I spent my summers at a camp that offered riding lessons, and I made a habit of hanging around afterward to help out in the stables. It was a way to get to spend more time around the horses.”

Luke hid his surprise by spearing another leaf of romaine lettuce. Well, anything could be fun for a while, he thought—until the novelty wore off. His ex-wife had had the same reaction to life on the ranch.

He decided to change the subject. “You mentioned you had hotel experience. Do you work at a hotel in Tulsa?”

Her blue eyes darkened like troubled water. “No. I’ve been working as the office manager in my father’s law firm for the past six months. But before that, I worked at the Royal Regent Hotel in Chicago.”

“I’ve heard of it. What did you do there?”

“A little of everything. I went through an eighteen-month management-training program, which meant I spent a few months in every department Then I worked in convention sales for a year and half.”

“Why did you leave?”

Josie swirled the champagne in her glass. “I didn’t like the ethics of the new sales director. He didn’t care about the clients, only about their money. He wanted me to promise things I knew the hotel couldn’t deliver in order to get convention bookings, and I refused to lie. The hotel lost a major piece of business because I wouldn’t do things his way. So I resigned before I got fired.”

Grudging admiration filled Luke’s chest. As much as he didn’t want to like this woman, he couldn’t help but respect her for refusing to compromise her principles. He raised his glass in a brief salute. “Good for you. Not many people have the courage of their convictions.”

Josie gave a rueful grin. “I’m afraid my convictions didn’t result in a very flattering job reference. I can’t land another job in the hotel industry to save my life. So when my father asked me to fill in for a few months while his office manager recovered from major surgery, I moved back to Tulsa.”

“Is that when you met your fiancé?”

Josie nodded. “He’s an attorney at my father’s firm. We started dating when I moved back, and three months later we were engaged.”

Luke watched her toy with her salad, trying not to notice the way the candlelight gleamed on her dark hair and lit her blue eyes. Curiosity was burning a hole in him.

It was none of his business, he warned himself. The less he knew, the better off he’d be.

But he couldn’t resist asking the question, anyway. “So what happened?”

“With the wedding? I narrowly avoided making the mistake of my life, that’s what happened.” She took a sip of champagne and regarded him over the rim of her glass. “Do you want the whole story?”

He was dying for it, but he feigned indifference. “Only if you want to tell me.”

Josie put down her glass and leaned forward. “Well, I was a nervous wreck before the ceremony. I thought some exercise might calm my nerves, so I went for a walk down a back hallway of the church. I ended up outside the room where Robert and the best man were waiting. I could hear their voices through the air vents.”

“And?” Luke prompted.

Josie’s full lips thinned into a narrow line. “I learned a few things about the man I was about to marry.”

“What things?”

“For starters, that his idea of matrimony doesn’t include fidelity.”