The Rancher and the Event Planner - By Cheryl Gorman Page 0,43

want there to be anything more between them. Right?

She paused for a moment looking at Linc with a kind of dreamy look in her eyes. “I’ve got some great ideas for the main part of town.” She chatted about her ideas. “I’ve realized how much I’ve missed this town and believe me, I never thought I’d say that.”

“With the resort opening,” Linc said, “there will be new businesses and families settling here and I’m sure someone is going to need the help of an event planner. Who knows, maybe you’ll decide to stay.”

Whose side was his brother on?

In the midst of the excitement, Molly tugged on the hem of Jennifer’s shorts. “Will you do the dog show with me? It’s for pet adoption and Daddy promised I could get a dog.” She looked over at Rafe. “Remember, Daddy?”

Yeah, he remembered. But he wanted to do the dog show with Molly.

“I would love to, but you’ll have to ask your dad first,” Jennifer said.

Molly turned toward her father. “Can we, Daddy? Please?”

How could he say no to that face? “Sure, why not.”

***

“Hey, everything is looking good. One guy had to leave early, but I think we’ll be able to stay on schedule.”

The sound of Linc’s voice brought Rafe’s attention back to the present and balancing the ranch’s checking account. “Great, thanks for keeping an eye on things.”

Linc sauntered across the ranch house study and parked his butt in a chair in front of the desk. Stretching his legs out, he crossed them at the ankles and propped his hands behind his head.

“Spoke to Jennifer a while ago. She was headed to a hen party over at Ryn’s place.” He tilted his head. “Jennifer’s quite a woman. Since Barb and I broke up, I haven’t dated very many ladies, at least not more than a couple of times. I wouldn’t mind escorting Jennifer out on the town a time or three so I can get to know her. She’s damn pretty to look at and she’s funny too. You have a problem with that?”

Jealousy clawed inside Rafe and he hated the feeling, fighting against it, but despite his efforts, the green monster cleanly jumped the fence. He leaned back in his chair. “I can’t believe you’d be interested in dating Jennifer, she’s more like a sister to you.”

Linc shook his head. “Jennifer is nice and she cares about people. But she’s as far from being our little sister as we are from the moon. Wake up and smell the sweet feed, brother. Since you obviously don’t have any interest in taking her out on a date, I will tonight if she’s free.”

Everything Linc said was true. Sure as calves born in the spring, Jennifer was a kind, loving person with a heart as big as all outdoors. He’d witnessed it himself. Maybe he should ride that trail one more time. “If you don’t mind, stay clear of Jennifer because I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

Chapter Eleven

Welcome to the Salvation Summer Festival. Stepping into sun-washed Salvation Park, JC admired the banner strung between two poles proclaiming her first big event to save the town from extinction. She walked toward a large white tent filled with tables and chairs awaiting the crowd ready to sample ten different kinds of pizza. Several people spoke to her and waved. She chalked up another mark on her mental score sheet for how many times people had been glad to see her.

Anticipation brought a smile when she noticed a Dallas television station van in the parking lot. Maybe they would do a feature and put them on the news. A story about Salvation on television would put this town on the map.

Fanning her face with her sunhat, she gazed at the sky. A few white, puffy clouds dotted the sky like scoops of vanilla ice cream in a blue bowl. The temperature was holding steady in the upper eighties but the humidity was off the scale.

She glanced at her watch. The chef still hadn’t shown up but he promised he would be here. As long as he arrived and did his job today, because she wanted this day to be a huge success. So far, she’d managed to work off a chunk of her community service hours and after today she’d be able to add several more.

“JC!”

Molly ran toward her with Rafe not far behind. Squatting down, she gave Molly a hug, the scents of sunshine and light sweat enveloping her. “I’m so glad you could come.”

“Me