Honey Kisses (Romance on the Ranch Series #2) (2 page)

Ann brought Harris back to Tooty, but when he
spotted Toby and Preston, the four year old twins of Sarah and Sage, he begged
his mother to let him play with them. She smiled and knelt, kissed his cheek,
straightened his little bow tie, and said, "Okay, but remember your
manners!"

He grinned and rushed to play with his friends.

"Thanks for taking him to the bathroom,
Ann."

"He's adorable. You let me know if you need
help with him or anything else."

"Sure thing."

Sage called for everyone's attention and announced
that the buffet line was open. He invited his guests to fill their plates and
enjoy the feast that Curley and his helpers had prepared.

The bride and groom were called to the front of
the line, followed by their family members. Ann helped her grandmother dish her
plate and then ushered her back to their table. Newt, who had been helping
Curley, exited the kitchen and Molly yelled, "Hey, Newt, I saved a place
for you next to me." Newt looked at Molly and winked. Ann ducked a smile.
I
think Granny and Newt are sweet on each other.

Ann returned to the buffet and stood at the back
of the line. Pastor Porter said with his big voice, "Ann, you get up to
the front." She started to protest, but he insisted, as did everyone else.
Self consciously, she walked to the front and dished a few items before
returning to eat with her family.

After all the guests were seated, Sage proposed
a toast. "To the happy couple; may you always dream big, argue little,
learn from life's challenges, and savor life's blessings."

"Here…here," the guests shouted. After
the toast, the room was filled with conversation, clanking dinnerware, and
laughter. As supper wound down, more toasts and roasts were proposed. Ann's
heart expanded at the happiness lighting her son's face whenever he gazed at
his bride. She remembered the day he'd confided his love for Julie. He'd been
seventeen and just returned from working the summer at the Lazy M. He'd said
he'd known she was the
one,
the first summer they'd met. It was a summer
Ann would never forget. Five years ago, her son had fallen for Julie, and Sage
had fallen for Sarah. Both couples had experienced their happily-ever-after.
Ann sighed. For her, an HEA with a husband wasn't in the cards.

She stared at her plate, moving the food around
with her fork. All night she had been painfully aware of Jackson and his date.
Although she'd tried to ignore him, it was impossible. He always made her feel
like a giddy school girl experiencing her first crush. Of course, she was the
dorky girl and he was the jock. Unable to stop her wandering eyes, she glanced
sideways at his table to see him looking in her direction. Her breath hitched
and she darted her eyes back to her plate.

A band member switched on a microphone and it
screeched. He made a motion to another band member to turn the sound down.
Again, he lifted the mic and tested it before announcing the cutting of the
cake. Julie giggled and Jacob helped her out of her chair. At the cake table,
Tooty handed them the knife and Jacob cut the first piece with a pretty yellow
flower in the center. Everyone laughed when he pretended he was going to smash
it all over his bride's face. Instead, he lifted a small portion to her mouth
and followed it with a kiss. The crowd sighed.

Next, Julie pretended the same but followed
through by shoving a huge bite in his mouth. He wagged his finger as if to say,
"Later." Ann laughed and surreptitiously glanced back at Jackson.
Pritzy had pulled her chair close to his and pressed her body against his side.
The pretty cowgirl reached to smooth a lock of his golden hair and whisper in
his ear. He smiled and then glanced in Ann's direction. Ann quickly turned to
Molly and asked how she liked the green bean casserole.

The band leader announced the father/daughter
dance. Sage grinned and led Julie to the dance floor. The musicians played
Butterfly
Kisses.
At the end of the song, Jacob walked over and tapped his
father-in-law's shoulder. Everyone laughed as Sage handed Julie over to her
husband. The band kicked off,
It's Your Love
by Tim McGraw, and the
newlyweds danced lovingly. At the start of the next song, Sage stood and
offered his hand to Sarah. She looked up with stars in her eyes and placed her
hand in his. When he took her in his arms on the dance floor, the singer
crooned a Charlie Rich tune,
And when we get behind closed doors, then she
lets her hair hang down and she makes me glad that I'm a man. Oh, no-one knows
what goes on behind closed doors.

Sage bent to whisper in Sarah's ear and tears
filled Ann's eyes at the love simmering between them. She looked from Sara and
Sage, to her son and Julie wrapped in each other's arms, and a tear trickled.
In her heart, she knew her son would never be like his father. While some sons
repeated their father's mistakes, Jacob had learned from Jerry's. He would be
an attentive and caring husband and father, of that she was sure.

The grandparents joined the dancers and then all
the guests were invited to the floor. Newt extended his arm to Molly and she
giggled like a school girl. Ann sat alone at their table and watched.

 The country western musicians kicked off a new tune,
I Cross My Heart
by George Strait. "May I have this dance?"
The deep timbre of Jackson's voice made Ann's heart trip. Looking up into smoky
gray eyes, she couldn't form a coherent word. She indicated her acceptance by
pushing her chair back. Jackson held her elbow and guided her into the midst of
the couples. Placing her hand in his, she followed his lead in a slow dance.

"You look beautiful," he said, bending
his head down.

"Thank you," she replied softly.

More people stepped to the floor, which forced
Jackson to move closer.

The singer sang,
"I cross my heart and
promise to
–
give
all I've got to give to make all your dreams come true. In all the world you'll
never find a love as true as mine."
Ann wanted to lay her head against Jackson's
chest, but doing so would only make her look foolish. She was at least ten
years older than him.

Against her ear, he said low, "Annie, do
you remember the first time we danced?"

She nodded. He was the only person who called
her Annie and it made her heart flutter. He made her feel twenty-one instead of
forty-one.

* * *

Ann shifted in bed and turned to stare past
curtains opened to a full moon. It hung big and yellow and cast rays across
wispy clouds. She thought about Jacob and Julie in their fancy hotel in Denver.
Tomorrow, they were catching a plane to Seattle and then leaving on a ten-day
cruise to Alaska. Most honeymooners would have chosen the Caribbean, but when
Sage had asked the couple where they wanted to spend their honeymoon because it
was his and Sarah's wedding gift, they'd looked at each other and both said,
"Alaska."

Ann slipped from the covers and sat in the chair
by the window. She was staying with Sage and Sarah in their guest bedroom. She
had offered to stay in the dorm, but they would have none of it. They were good
people.

She smiled at the moon when her thoughts
traveled back five years to the Annual Covered Wagon Three-Day Trail Blaze hosted
by the Lazy M and the Triple T Ranches. As if it were yesterday, she relived her
conversation with Sarah when she'd climbed into Sarah's wagon to offer advice.
She'd told her new friend that she thought Sage had feelings for her and she
should "go for it" with him. She remembered how Sarah had blinked
through her tears, afraid to hope that what Ann was saying was true, and asked,
"Do you really think he likes me,
like that?"

Ann leaned her elbows against the sill, caught
up in the past. Usually, she wouldn't allow her thoughts to travel to Jackson,
but tonight, she gave them free rein. Her breath hitched when she thought of
his kindness in complementing her on her hair color. After years of bleaching it
because Jerry didn't like it dark, she'd let it return to its natural chestnut
after his death. She placed her hands on her cheeks. Just thinking about
Jackson made her warm. He was the handsomest man she had ever met with his blond
hair, Hispanic coloring and gray eyes, and when he'd asked her to dance five
years ago at Boot Bustin' Barn, she'd refused at first because she'd suspected
it was a set up to make her inattentive husband sit up and take notice. She'd
seen Sage whisper to the waitress and then, a few minutes later, Jackson had
come to their table asking her to dance. She'd felt humiliated. A quick glance
at her husband, however, had revealed his jealousy, and in a flash of feminine
wiles, she'd decided to make him
really
jealous by accepting Jackson's
invitation. It had worked for awhile. She and Jerry had had a romantic night at
the Lazy M and a few more when they got back home until, once again, work robbed
her of her husband's affection. The dance with Jackson, however, had awakened
longings long suppressed.

A balmy breeze blew through the screen and she
wondered about the rest of her life. What was she going to do? The wedding had
temporarily distracted her, but now it was time to face facts. She was destitute.
Jerry's sudden heart attack six months earlier had been the first of many
devastations. After the funeral, their attorney had informed her that Jerry had
cancelled his life insurance policy and withdrawn all funds. He had also
decimated his retirement account. It was finally discovered that Jerry had a
gambling problem. Even their house had been mortgaged to the hilt.

Ann returned to bed and swiped at tears she was
always fighting to hide from others. In the quiet of night, she didn't have to
hide them. Soon her pillow was damp and she flipped it over. She'd already sold
her home and most of her possessions to pay creditors. All she had left was
about two thousand dollars. Recriminations about how she should have paid more
attention to her husband's handling of their finances were unwarranted. Jerry
had never allowed her to handle their money and he never would have. Long ago,
she had come to accept his stubbornness. Although she hadn't been happy for
years, she had never stopped loving her husband. She had seen in him what
others could not. She had no doubts about his love for her and Jacob, but his
own emotional baggage had kept him from becoming the husband and father she
knew existed deep inside.

Two days after the wedding, Sage entered the
kitchen with a twin on each arm. "I'm taking the boys to the auction
today," he announced.

"Yeah," said Toby, and hugged his
father's neck.

"We're gonna help Daddy buy a new
horse," Preston said proudly.

"I think Daddy needs all the help he can
get," Sarah grinned.

"At least our being out of the house will
give you ladies time to visit and do all that
girlie
stuff." Sage
emphasized the word and looked at his sons, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, yuck," said Toby.

Preston wrinkled his nose.

Sarah laughed. "You boys just wait. Someday
you're going to meet a
girl
and fall in love."

"Oh, Mommy, girls are icky." Toby squirmed
down from his father's arms.

Sage laughed and set Preston down, too.
"Toby, I think you and I are going to have to part ways when it comes to
that. Mommy's a girl and I
adore
her."

Preston said, "Yeah, Toby, Mommy's a
girl."

"Mommys are different." Toby climbed
into his chair. "Mommy, I'm hungry."

Sarah winked at Ann. "It may be a cliché,
but no matter how old, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Ann laughed at the easy banter between Sarah and
her family and watched Sage bend to kiss his wife's cheek while she flipped a flapjack.
He whispered in her ear and she giggled. It was cute the way they teased each
other.

Sage patted his wife's bottom and then sat
between the boys, helping them butter and pour syrup on their flapjacks. He
mused, "The kids should be on the high seas by now. Um, I guess I should
stop calling them kids now that they're married."

Ann laughed, "In some ways, I think they'll
always be kids to us. My parents still call me their little girl."

Sarah brought more flapjacks to the table.
"You're right, Ann. My parents do the same thing."

After Sage and the boys left with Newt, Sarah said,
"Well, since all our parents and my sister left yesterday, looks like we've
got today to ourselves. What would you like to do? Sage just finished a big
photo spread for Livingston Fashions and made a butt load of money. He can
afford anything we want to do or buy. Do you want to go shopping, get a
massage, a facial, you name it."

"I wouldn't feel right–"

"Ann, not another word. It makes me happy
to spend money on my friends, and Sage wants me happy. Not that I could be
anything but with a husband like him. He could be as poor as a church mouse and
it wouldn't matter."

"I'm game for whatever
you
want."

"I swear you are the easiest woman on earth
to please. Do you have a selfish bone in your body?"