Cute Cowboy (River's End Ranch Book 12)

  Cute Cowboy

  Pamela M. Kelley

  Piping Plover Press

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek Welcome Wagon

  Elderberry Syrup Recipe

  Sneak Peek Nashville Dreams

  Also by Pamela M. Kelley

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2017 by Pamela M. Kelley

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Lily Donahue has her hands full, between her fun, busy job as an event planner for River’s End Ranch, moonlighting in a local country music band and writing songs. Things get even trickier when she meets the reserved rancher who’s hired her to coordinate his parents’ 40th wedding anniversary celebration.

  Cody Jamison’s done with relationships and happily enjoying his quiet life—until he meets his noisy temporary neighbor and her band mates. Lily is not his type at all, and the feeling is mutual—she thinks he’s downright stuffy, but sparks fly no matter how much they try to resist. When she has a chance to follow her true passion, all the way to Nashville…it just confirms his initial belief that they are not right for each other, at all. Or are they?

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter 1

  You just missed a call from Ahn-dray-uh. She requested that you call her back as soon as possible!” Bernie was half-laughing as Lily walked over and handed her an iced coffee. Every day around 2 p.m., Lily took a mid-afternoon walk to stretch her legs and get a coffee. She sat down at her desk and took a sip of her own hot, black coffee as she gazed out the window.

  The sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day at the ranch. Ninety-five percent of the time, Lily loved her job as an event coordinator at River’s End Ranch. She planned everything from weddings to corporate dinners, showers, and birthday or anniversary parties. But every once in a while, she had a client that was almost impossible to please, difficult and demanding. Like Andrea Thomas.

  “Did she say what she wanted?” Lily asked. She and Bernie shared an office. Bernie was Wade Weston’s executive assistant. Wade was one of the six Weston siblings who owned and ran the ranch along with their parents, but they were semi-retired and traveling the country in an RV, so Wade, as general manager, was the main business contact for the ranch. Bernie was an ideal office mate. She was fiercely loyal to Wade and great at her job, but had a sense of humor and was fun to work with. They always covered for each other if one was out of the office.

  “I think she may want to change up the menu. Again.”

  Lily shook her head, and then dialed Andrea’s number. Better to just get the call over with. Andrea picked up on the first ring.

  “Andrea Thomas, how can I help you?”

  “It’s Lily Donahue. I had a message that you called?”

  “Yes, Lily. We need to go over the menu. I don’t think this is going to work.” Her tone was crisp and dismissive.

  Lily took a breath. “Okay, what did you have in mind?”

  For the next twenty minutes, she tried to keep up as Andrea went through all the menu items that needed changing. When she finally hung up the phone, Bernie laughed out loud.

  “Are you serious? What could possibly need that much changing?”

  “Oh, just about everything. This is an entirely new menu now. One person has a dairy allergy, someone else needs gluten-free and so of course that means we must have two cakes. One chocolate and one that is lemon-raspberry—dairy and gluten-free, of course.”

  “Of course.”

  “I wouldn’t mind so much if she was just a little nicer about it.” Andrea sounded like an angry governess, cold and demanding. Yet she was actually very pretty, blonde and delicate looking, and about Lily’s age, but Lily had never met anyone quite like her. It was a disconcerting combination.

  “And you still haven’t talked to Cody Jamison yet? Even though it’s his party?” Bernie asked. Andrea was Cody’s executive assistant and to her credit, she was certainly efficient.

  “No, though I imagine I’ll at least meet him at the party. After all, it is for his parents.”

  “That’s true. I asked Wade about him, and he said they were friends in college, but he hasn’t seen him much in recent years. They’re both so busy.” She was quiet for a moment, then a gleam came into her eye as she added, “He said Cody is single, though, and successful. In addition to running one of the biggest cattle ranches in the area, he and his brother Ben have been doing some real estate investing, buying properties and fixing them up.”

  Lily made a face. “He doesn’t sound my type at all. I wouldn’t have anything in common with a businessman.”

  “Well, he’s a cowboy, too. That’s kind of romantic.”

  “You think so? You can have him, then.” Lily grinned. “Besides, if he’s anything like Andrea, I won’t mind if I never meet him.”

  * * *

  Lily kicked off her shoes as soon as she walked through the front door of her condo that night. She hadn’t been there long, just six months and it was a rental, but it was exactly the type of place she would love to own one day. The location was ideal, just off Main Street in downtown Riston, which was convenient. It was a short drive to the ranch but also an easy walk to most of the restaurants and bars along Main Street where Lily sometimes moonlighted singing in a little band with her brother, Tyler, and his friend, Mark. Lily did most of the vocals and wrote all of the original songs that they sang. But mostly they did covers of popular country and soft rock music.

  “Meow!” Lily reached down and scooped up the small cat that was loudly demanding her dinner. Hope was a shelter kitty, a pretty, short-haired, seven-year-old girl that had been with Lily since she was two. She had all white paws, a mix of brown and black patches all over and pale green eyes. She was beautiful and tiny. Hope purred and rubbed her head against Lily’s chin once or twice, before she’d had enough and wiggled to get down. Lily fed her and then made her way into the living room and opened the windows to let in some fresh air

  She grabbed her guitar, settled on her well-worn living room sofa and started to strum a few chords. This was her favorite time of day. As much as she enjoyed both her job and playing in the band, it was this, creating the music, that was her passion. It relaxed and energized her at the same time.

  Lily had an end unit and she was especially thrilled that she could make as much noise as she wanted to now that her neighbors had moved out. She knew it was just a matter of time before someone else moved in, but for now it was nice to not have to worry about bothering anyone. Tyler and Mark were coming over and they were going to be rehearsing one of her new songs. Normally, they did their practicing at Mark’s house but his roommate was having people over and this weekend they had a gig booked and wanted to get another practice in. Two hours later, they were just about through their set and were going through Lily’s new song for a final time when there was a knock on the door. They stopped playing and both Tyler and Mark looked her way.

  “You expecting someone?” Tyler asked.

  “No, I have no idea who that is.”

  She walked to the door, opened it, and took a step back. Standing there was a man who simply took her breath away. He was over six feet tall and lean, with tousled light brown hair and a five o’clock shadow. He was dressed casually, in faded jeans and a gray U of Idaho t-shirt. Lily was about to smile and say hello when he took her by surprise by frowning and saying in an irritated tone, “Do you guys mind keeping it down?” Before she could even reply, he followed it up with, “Do you do this often?”

  Lily felt suddenly flustered. He made her nervous. “Um, no. We don’t, but we didn’t think anyone was next door yet. We’re just about done here.” Was this her new neighbor? It wasn’t the first of the month yet, and they’d only just moved out that morning. “Who are you?” she added.

  “I’m Cody Jamison. My brother and I recently bought this building and I guess, for the next month or so, I’ll be your new neighbor.”

  The Cody Jamison? Lily wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  “Oh, you’re going to be living here?” she asked.

  “Just initially, while we do some renovating. I don’t think it will take long to rent.”

  “No, I’m sure it won’t. I’m Lily. Lily Donahue.”

  His eyes flickered as if her name sounded familiar.

  “I’ve actually been working with your assistant, Andrea, to plan your parents’ fortieth wedding anniversary. I’m the event coordinator at River’s End Ranch.”

  His expression softened at the mention of his parents’ party.

  “I thought your name sounded familiar.” He looked as though he was going to say something else, but Lily quickly jumped in.

  “I’m really sorry for the noise. We’re done for the night. It won’t happen again,” she assured him.

  He lo
oked at her for a long moment before saying in a curt tone, “Good. I’ll be on my way, then. Good night.”

  He turned to leave and Lily shut the door behind him. Her brother and Mark were already packing up their stuff.

  “Jeez, not the friendliest guy. Sorry you have to live next to him,” her brother said.

  “Hopefully it won’t be for too long,” Mark added.

  “Right,” she agreed, realizing that what she’d said earlier to Bernie was so true. Cody Jamison was hot, she’d give him that, but he was most definitely not her type.

  * * *

  “I met our new neighbor last night,” Cody said as he and his brother, Ben, walked back to the ranch office after an early morning ride around the property. This was Cody’s favorite time of day. He enjoyed the peace and quiet and the beauty of the mountains. He and Ben both lived at his ranch, though Ben was just there temporarily while he built his own place. But it was plenty big enough for both of them. It was a large, sprawling building, with five bedrooms, an attached office and detached bunkhouse where several ranch hands lived. He could see as they reached the office that Andrea’s car was parked out front and she probably already had coffee made. Which was good, because he was ready for a cup.

  “At the condo in town?” Ben asked.

  “Yeah. I may have been a little less than friendly.” He realized he’d been a bit of a grump. It had been a long day, though, and the music had been loud. But not that loud. And it was pretty good, actually.

  “Oh? Is it Tom Johnson? What did he do to get on your bad side?”

  “No, it wasn’t Tom. He’s a good guy. It was Lily Donahue, in the end unit. She works at River’s End Ranch. She’s also the coordinator for Mom and Dad’s party.”

  “Really? I would think you’d want to be on her good side,” Ben said with a chuckle.

  “I know. She plays in a band, too, and they were rehearsing. It gave me a headache.”

  Ben shot him a look. “Seriously? You sound like an old man. The Harrisons just moved out. She probably thought the unit next to her was empty.”

  “She did, evidently.”

  “So, what, is she ugly or something? Not friendly?”

  Cody laughed at that. “She’s actually quite pretty. Not my type, though. She’s one of those creative types, with really long, wavy hair, and seems to like bright colors.”

  “She sounds just awful,” Ben sympathized with heavy sarcasm. “Seriously, though. When was the last time you went on a date? You’re not going to get far acting like that.”

  “It hasn’t been that long since Maureen and I broke up. I haven’t really thought about getting back out there again. Too busy.”

  “It’s been almost three months,” Ben said as they walked into the office. Andrea was sitting at her desk, typing an email. She looked up and smiled when they walked in.

  “Morning. I just made a fresh pot of coffee if you’re interested.”

  “You’re the best,” Cody said and Andrea beamed. The coffee maker sat on a side desk in a corner of the room and Cody poured a cup for himself and Ben.

  “You need to get out more,” Ben said as Cody handed him a mug of coffee. “Let’s go to trivia tonight at the ranch. We can have a beer and the two-for-one pizza special. It’s an early night. We won’t be out too late.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” Cody stirred a packed of sugar into his coffee and took a sip.

  “I love trivia,” Andrea said.

  Ben looked her way and smiled. “Why don’t you come with us? The three of us will be unbeatable!”

  Cody glanced at the pair of them. They both seemed so eager to go that he didn’t want to disappoint them. Maybe he’d give his friend Wade a call and see if he wanted to meet them there too. Wade was the manager at River’s End Ranch and they’d been meaning to get together.

  “Fine, I’ll go to trivia with you.”

  Chapter 2

  As usual, Lily went for coffee that afternoon when the office clock chimed that it was two. It was less than a five-minute walk from her office to the Old West town and the saloon—the little ice cream shop that also sold her favorite coffee. She liked to get half decaffeinated and whatever the flavor of the day was for a hint of caffeine. Today, it was butter toffee. Sadie was behind the counter and smiled when she walked in.

  “Your timing is perfect! Will you help me out with a taste of my newest flavor? It’s a bit of an experiment but I think I’m almost there.” Lily always looked forward to chatting with Sadie. She was as passionate about making ice cream as Lily was about writing songs.

  “Sure. Are you going to tell me what the flavor is or do I have to guess again?”

  Sadie grinned as she handed her a small plastic spoon loaded with a generous bite of creamy ice cream. Lily took a good look at it before popping it in her mouth. The color had a hint of pink to it and there were some small chocolate bits.

  “You know better than that. No information at all. I want your true assessment.” Sadie leaned against the counter, her eyes wide as she watched for Lily’s reaction. At first Lily couldn’t place the berry flavor, it was some kind of a dried fruit and she immediately thought of cherry. Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia was one of her favorites. But this was different—a little more tangy, but sweet and creamy and loaded with chocolate.

  “Is that cranberry?”

  “Yes! What do you think? I could have done dried cherry, but, well, that’s so ordinary.”

  Lily chuckled. “Your ice cream is anything but that. It’s really good.”

  “Good. I’ll stop tweaking then and put this out as a new flavor. See if anyone will buy it.”

  “I’ll take a scoop of it.” Lily turned at the sound of the older gentleman’s voice, and smiled when she saw that it was Simon. He was semi-retired, in his mid-seventies, and worked part-time in the golf shop. In his day, he’d been an amazing golfer. He was also good friends with Jaclyn, one of her Aunt Gillian’s close friends, so Lily saw him often.

  “Hi, Simon!” Sadie said as she made Lily’s two coffees and then put two generous scoops of ice cream in a big cup for Simon.

  “Why don’t you see if that young man in the corner wants a sample of your new flavor?” Simon asked her. He had a mischievous gleam in his eye and Lily noticed that Sadie suddenly seemed flustered, which was interesting. She’d noticed the very handsome blond man when she walked in as he was the only customer sitting at a table. He had a mug of coffee and a stack of papers in front of him, and looked like he was working.

  “I’m not going to bother him,” Sadie said.

  Simon shrugged. “Nothing ventured…”

  “Simon!” Sadie said in a loud whisper.

  He chuckled. “I’ll be on my way. See you ladies at trivia tonight, perhaps?”

  “I don’t think I’ll make it tonight, am here until closing,” Sadie said.

  “I haven’t heard from Aunt Gillian yet, but I’d say there’s a good chance that you’ll see us there.” Lily often went with her aunt and Jaclyn for trivia night at the restaurant, and Bernie and Gwen, who worked at the front desk usually joined her. It was a fun thing to do right after work and they all liked the pizza, too.

  Lily stayed for a moment after Simon left and glanced over at the hot blond guy in the corner and back to Sadie, who once again seemed flustered.

  “He’s been in almost every afternoon this week,” Sadie said softly so that only Lily could hear. “I don’t even know his name yet.”

  “But you’d like to?”

  Sadie grinned. “Well, yeah. Can you blame me?”

  “Not one bit! Maybe you should offer him a sample? That’s not a bad idea that Simon had.”

  Sadie said nothing in response, but she looked terrified at the thought of it and Lily chuckled.

  “Okay, I’m off then. Good luck!”

  * * *

  When she got back to the office, Bernie was on the phone and mouthed the words ‘thank you’ as Lily set her coffee down. She ended the call just as Lily was settling back at her desk.

  “Your cell phone rang while you were out.”

  Lily checked her phone and there was a missed call from her Aunt Gillian. She never left messages, instead preferring to try to catch people live. If Lily saw a missed call, though, she always called her right back, which is why her aunt explained once that she didn’t need to bother leaving a message.