brides for brothers 03 - cowboy groom (17 page)

“Yes,” Megan said serenely, continuing to eat her dinner.

“They’d better not try,” Chad muttered, and then looked around the table. “What are you hyenas laughing about? Someone’s going to go after your women, too.”

“Well, I think I’m safe,” Pete said, an amused grin on his face. “No one’s going to want a surly woman about to give birth to twins.” He sustained a punch on the shoulder from said pregnant wife, but she didn’t really seem to mind.

Brett immediately took Chad’s point to heart. As casually as he could, he asked, “You going, Anna?”

Even as Anna nodded, Megan answered, “Of course she is. She promised. After all, there’s a shortage of women. We’ll need everyone to participate. Both B.J. and Mildred promised, too.”

Jake gave a dry chuckle. “Talk about change. There’ll be five women participating from the Randall spread. Last year, we didn’t have one.”

Pete nodded. “Good thing only two of them actually belong to us, or our neighbors would accuse us of being greedy.”

With a worried tone in his voice that surprised the others, Red asked, “But how will we know which ones to bid on? Don’t you have to keep whose box it is a secret?”

Brett looked at him sharply. He’d already been reviewing his bank account, to make sure he had plenty of money for bidding. “What are you talking about?”

Megan explained. “It’s part of the fun. The men aren’t supposed to know whose box is whose.”

“What?” Brett roared. “Then how can I—? I mean, how can the man bid on his wife’s lunch?”

“That’s why the bidding will be exciting,” Janie said, and Brett noticed her gaze traveled between him and Anna. “Of course, some women won’t follow the rules. It always happens.”

“But since the money is going to be used to repair the church roof before winter arrives, no one really minds,” Megan explained.

“So you’ll tell Chad which lunch is yours?” Red asked Megan.

“Never,” she said with a wicked smile.

Chad squared his shoulders. “Maybe I’ll just bid on another lady’s lunch. Maybe I’ll have an even better time with some other woman.”

Megan sent him a mournful look. “If you do, I’ll probably go into early labor.”

Chad’s pretense collapsed at once, and he figuratively groveled at his wife’s feet. Brett didn’t even crack a smile at his brother’s capitulation. He knew exactly how he felt.

Already he was trying to figure out how to identify Anna’s picnic lunch.

Because he was damn sure going to be the one to share it with her.

Chapter Thirteen

Thursday night, Brett paced the kitchen floor, pausing each time he neared the window over the kitchen sink. It was after eleven o’clock. She should be home.

The kitchen door opened, and he spun around to discover Pete.

“What are you still doing up?” Pete asked as he headed for the refrigerator.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Brett muttered. “How about you?”

“
I
can sleep. Janie can’t. She thought a glass of milk might help her. She’s having a hard time these days.”

Brett reached up for a glass from the cabinet as his brother brought the carton of milk over.

“Thanks.” As he poured the milk, Pete added, “Maybe you should try some milk, too. Six o’clock is going to be here before you know it.”

“No, thanks.”

“You waiting for Anna?”

Brett jerked away from the window. “No! I told you, I couldn’t sleep.”

“I didn’t sleep much, either, when Janie broke up with me,” Pete said.

Brett stood with his hands on his hips, staring across the kitchen. He didn’t want to reveal how vulnerable he was right now. But he could count on sympathy from his brothers. “She’s been avoiding me,” he finally admitted.

“No kidding,” Pete said with a laugh.

So much for sympathy.

“Why? What did I do?”

“Well, let’s see. You break your engagement with another woman and then grab Anna and kiss the breath out of her. Didn’t you ever hear of subtlety?”

“At least I didn’t kiss her before I broke the engagement,” Brett argued.

“True, but I think at least a day’s mourning period would’ve been appropriate before you hit on Anna.”

“What was there to mourn? I felt more like celebrating.” The sound of a car had him forgetting his brother and turning back to the window. Dual headlights bumping down the long driveway told him his wait was over.

“I’d better get this milk up to Janie before she gets cross with me,” Pete said, grinning at Brett. “You might think about not pushing so hard, Brett. Anna’s a sweetheart, and Jake will be upset if you make her uncomfortable. In fact, maybe you should wait until she’s not living here to, uh, you know, make a move on her.”

Pete didn’t wait for Brett’s reply, but Brett turned to stare at his brother as he left the kitchen. Wait until Anna left before he let her know she was driving him crazy? Not touch her, hold her, kiss her, until after Janie had her babies? That could be weeks!

When Anna entered the kitchen, Brett was in a state of confusion. Desire urged him to pull her into his arms and kiss any silliness about avoiding him out of her head. But Pete’s words had struck home.

Not that he could completely ignore Anna while she was living in his house, but—but he could restrain himself. After all, that was the reason he’d given for not sleeping with Sylvia.

But Sylvia hadn’t tempted him.

“Brett! What are you doing up?”

He studied her pale features, noting the alarm in her eyes. Maybe Pete was right. With a sigh, he used Pete’s excuse for being in the kitchen. “I couldn’t sleep and thought I’d pour myself a glass of milk. Want some?”

“No, thanks. I think I’ll head for bed.”

“Aren’t you pushing it a little this week, filling in at Doc’s office, as well as making house calls?”

She barely smiled. “I can use the money. Good night.”

Before he could think of anything else to say, she was gone.

He heaved another sigh and put the milk away. Milk wasn’t going to cure his sleeping problem. Only a slender, redheaded angel could do that, and she didn’t appear interested.

He should’ve known he’d mess up on this love business. He’d always been a little different from his brothers, with a proclivity for numbers. Not that he couldn’t ride with the rest of them, because he could. But numbers, computers and calculations had always been something he enjoyed.

Now Pete and Chad had found the perfect women for themselves. When Brett had tried the same thing, he’d chosen Sylvia. At least he’d gotten out of that mess. But Anna, Anna didn’t respond like other women. Even he had no trouble attracting women.

Except for Anna.

And she was the one he wanted.

With all his heart. And several other active parts of him, he admitted ruefully. Well, he wasn’t going to give up. Randalls weren’t quitters. He’d find out which box dinner was hers, and he’d pay whatever it took to have her to himself.

But he’d be restrained. He wouldn’t push her. Not yet. He would persuade her he was a nice guy. Lay the groundwork. Yeah, that was it.

And when she stopped running away, his sleeping problems would be over.

S
ATURDAY WAS
a perfect day. The sun shone, and puffs of clouds drifted lazily by. Anna didn’t even think about the box social until after she’d done some shopping in town and had lunch at the Sandwich Shop.

She’d had a tough week, doing double duty. But she needed the money to pay her car-repair bill. She’d been fortunate. When she’d visited Mike, the mechanic had handed her a small bill and a perfectly running car. She questioned him to be sure Brett hadn’t persuaded him to lower his bill, but Mike assured her he hadn’t.

Which was just as well, because she couldn’t have paid anything much bigger. But the extra duty had helped. And gotten her away from the ranch…and Brett. She hadn’t been able to relax at the Randall ranch. Brett, after that one kiss, had kept his distance, greeting her warmly but treating her like his little sister. Or maybe a distant cousin.

Even Thursday night, when he’d been in the kitchen as she returned late, he’d simply offered her a glass of milk. There’d been no attempt to get close to her.

And she was sure her heart was breaking.

“Silly girl!” she muttered as she paused to make a phone call outside the Sandwich Shop. She’d warned herself over and over again that Brett wasn’t for her. She should be glad he no longer wanted to seduce her. Too bad she wasn’t.

After she dialed the ranch on her cellular phone, she waited for Red to answer. Instead, Megan picked up the receiver.

“Hi, it’s Anna. Is Janie all right?”

“Sure. Where are you?”

“In town. I’m going to go to my apartment to pick up my mail and fix the food for my box dinner. Then I’ll be out to the ranch.” She always tried to let Pete and Janie know where she’d be.

“Don’t bother cooking anything, Anna. Red has fried a lot of chicken and made potato salad and stuff. He says all we need to do is pack the boxes.”

“I can do my own—” Anna began.

“You’ll hurt Red’s feelings. By the way, how are you going to decorate your box?”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to tell,” Anna said. She wouldn’t put it past either Janie or Megan to tell Brett to bid on her box, whether Brett wanted to or not.

“It won’t hurt to tell me.
I’m
not bidding on the box dinner, silly,” Megan said lightly.

“Tell Red thanks for me,” Anna said, ignoring Megan’s words. The two women had been prodding her all week toward Brett. Who knew what they’d said to him. “I’ll be there in about an hour, then. ’Bye.”

“D
ID SHE TELL YOU
?”

“No, sorry,” Megan replied with a sigh. “I think she suspects I won’t keep it a secret.”

“Do you think she doesn’t want me to buy hers?” Brett asked, his spirits sinking. “She’s been avoiding me.”

“No, Brett, I’m sure that’s not true. But she said the other day she didn’t think she was good enough for you.”

“What?” he roared, unable to believe anyone could think such a silly thing.

“She seems pretty hung up on not being socially on the same level with us,” Megan said. “Does it bother you that she has no family, no connections?”

“Of course it bothers me. I don’t want her to be alone. She needs me to take care of her, to be her family.”

“Whew, you had me worried for a minute,” Megan confessed.

“Damn. First you all think I’m having babies indiscriminately, and now you’re accusing me of being a snob?”

“Sorry, Brett. I’ll try to atone for it by finding out which box is Anna’s. You just bring enough money.”

“Don’t worry. They’ll be calling me Moneybags before tonight is over.”

R
ED VOLUNTEERED TO TAKE
all the ladies’ box dinners into town ahead of time. “Just so no one will know,” he said with a wink. “I’ll leave the kitchen until they’re all ready. You call B.J. and Mildred and tell them to bring theirs over, too.”

Megan had done as Red directed and then carefully filled hers and Janie’s boxes. Provided by the church, the boxes were all the same—large, white and square—though each lady could decorate her own.

When she and Janie came downstairs to check on their boxes, they discovered an unforeseen problem.

Anna was completing a big red bow on one of the boxes that matched the bows on the other two boxes, making all three identical.

“What are you doing?” Megan asked.

“Tying bows. It’s one of my special talents. Shall I tie a big bow on your boxes, too?”

“But how can you tell them apart?” Janie asked, frowning.

“We put the sticker on the bottom with our names on it. Didn’t you?” B.J. asked. “Come on, let Anna tie bows on your boxes, too. That will confuse everyone.”

“It certainly will,” Megan agreed as she surrendered her box to Anna, frantically thinking of what they were going to do now.

“W
HAT ARE WE GOING
to do now?” Chad demanded, frustration evident in his voice.

“The only thing we can do is make sure one of us bids on every one of those boxes with red bows,” Jake said calmly. “Then we can all sit together. No one’s going to pay any attention if we don’t sit exactly beside the person whose box we won.”

Brett looked at the only other single Randall. “I get Anna, okay? I’ll pay extra.”

“You’re acting like I’m going to try to steal your girl from you,” Jake said with a grin.

“I’ll take Mildred’s box,” Red said abruptly. When the four brothers turned to look at him, he muttered, “She’s too old for the likes of you.”

Brett grinned. Everything seemed to be working out okay. “All right. I’m counting on all of you to win the bid. Who will go first? We don’t want to bid against each other.”

They determined their order for bidding and turned confidently toward the table.

Only to discover that at least half of the boxes were tied with big red bows.

S
HE’D BEEN NAUGHTY
.

But Anna was determined to save Brett from the scheming of his sisters-in-law. And herself from temptation. When she’d arrived at the church, she’d gone to the room where the box dinners were being stored and offered to help tie big bows on some of the other boxes.

She’d learned the technique of making a huge, decorative bow when she’d worked at a florist while she went to school. The trick came in handy, especially tonight. Now, Brett wouldn’t feel he had to buy her box.

And she wouldn’t have nearly as much fun.

With a sigh, she moved to her seat among the women.

“What did you do?” Megan whispered, her gaze wide-eyed.

“I helped some of the other ladies. But I fixed yours and Janie’s boxes. I painted a blue butterfly on the side of those two boxes.”

“A blue butterfly? Thanks, Anna.” With relief, she waved to her husband, and he hurried over.

After whispering in his ear, Megan smiled to reassure him. He whispered back, then waited for her answer. All she could do was shrug her shoulders because, Anna guessed, she couldn’t identify the other boxes.

Which was what Anna had intended.

She saw Brett among the men. He was studying the boxes intently. Chad was beside him, saying something to him. Anna wondered whose box Brett wanted. Some of the ladies were gossiping in the storage room. Several single ladies, decked out in their fanciest clothes this evening, were hoping Brett would get theirs.